Um. Yeah.
So. Yeah.
Remember how I said I was looking forward to this?
A long time ago, I took my best friend, RoRo, to go see Kevin Sorbo in KULL THE CONQUEROR. Upon exiting that “experience” – RoRo was quoted as saying, “It was like running up a hill to smell a bucket of shit.”
Yeah. That’s what it was like.
I like Mark Steven Johnson – I watched the film and completely saw what he was attempting. He was making a GHOST RIDER movie for the Junior High set and younger. The film played out like a Video Game where he had a series of opponents that represented Air, Water, Dirt and he was fire. Then he was onto the big baddie of the bunch after clearing these earlier stages. And just like in bad video games, there’s a character, whose sole purpose is to explain shit and take you from stage to stage.
Now in-between these ‘stages’ there’s Nicholas Cage playing Johnny Blaze as an occasional stuntman that likes watching television, something he’ll tell us 4 or 5 times. Oh – and he’s cursed, but like… whatever. Shit like that… happens. It’s cool. He’ll deal.
Oh – and then there’s his ex-16 year old girlfriend grown up to be the talent less vapid Eva Mendes – put into the worst clothes that a body as fine as hers has ever been placed in. You see hints of a voluptuous figure there, but everything looks designed by a reject of Project Runaway. There’s no emotion in her performance. No emotion in anyone’s performance. In fact, I’m convinced the Devil has all their souls, because there was not a soul on screen… not even those CG souls.
If you wanted this film to have Video Game plotting (bad video game plotting) – zero character work and some cool effects from time to time. Then be gone with ya. Seek it out.
But if you just want pain, you won’t need to look into GHOST RIDER’s eyes – you just need to come away thinking about the most striking images the film has to offer. Monkey Kung Fu on the TV. The Demon from CURSE OF THE DEMON, an infinitely better Curse film, on the TV. A scene from Walt Disney’s classic SKELETON DANCE on the TV. And if you get lucky you’ll see trailers for GRINDHOUSE, HOT FUZZ & something else.
But otherwise – it’s a good place to go to meditate on where all of this went wrong.
At no point was any of this taken with an ounce of weight or seriousness.
Imagine at age 16 you found your father asleep in his big overstuffed chair looking at a scrapbook of him and you. Then in a wastebasket you find a letter from a Doctor talking about the advance stage of Cancer your father has and the fact that it’s terminal. Do we get a scene of that young man upset by this? I mean… it is his father, and from the look of things – a good father, a fun father. One that made life exciting and an adventure. Nope – we don’t get a tear. I suppose he’s too tough for that. We wouldn’t want to think he was a weak pussy kid, right?
Ok – then Peter Fonda shows up at your garage, where after discovering your father is about to take a dirt nap, you’ve gone to work on your bike. Now sure… this could be the kid’s way of dealing with stuff… ratcheting the emotions in tight, right? But there’s no emotion on the kid’s face. He’s not working through tears, taking out his aggravation on anything. Then in walks an INFINTELY more talented actor. Peter Fonda is Mephisto in this – and he’s from a totally different film. There’s complexity to what he’s doing. Peter Fonda is in the same realm as only one other actor in the film. They both were making a good GHOST RIDER movie, but I can only believe it is because of what they brought to their characters, not what was given to them.
Now Fonda is acting circles around the kid – as he should. But the rest of this ORIGIN was done with the depth of emotion of accidentally knocking your POM tea glass onto the floor and seeing it shatter. Oh the humanity. Your fine glassware has been destroyed. DAMN YOU SATAN!!!!
Ok… so essentially – boy gets fucked out of his father living, Satan owns his soul… flash forward – perhaps 25 years.
Now think about the character of JOHNNY BLAZE for a bit. For 25 years he’s been a marked man, living on borrowed time. A daredevil that seemingly can’t die. Anticipating at any second that the Boogie Man, Satan was just behind him, sneaking up closer and closer. Perhaps a tap on the shoulder where there is nobody. There in the stands, no, wasn’t him. He travels the world – surviving accidents that can’t have been survived. Proving to himself over and over that on that night, at those crossroads in no man’s land… he had a date with Old Scratch, and some day, he’s gonna get fucked.
But there’s none of that. Instead Johnny is just a quirky goofy guy, who’ll occasionally look out a window and mumble something… lightning flash, skull in the reflection. Not that he notices, not that his roadie crew notices. No, that was just for us, ain’t we special – SLAP SLAP SLAP.
Writing scenes like – “Young Johnny Reads official letter from hospital stating his father has terminal cancer” – there’s more to it than that. You can’t just show that and expect it to connect – you’ve got to FEEL this stuff. You can’t just declare, “He’s cursed” – you have to make the character feel cursed by living each day that his father didn’t.
Making Johnny a flippant quirky Spaz on a bike IS NOT THE CHARACTER.
Making cartoon CG creatures where everything moves with the subtlety of the Tasmanian Devil… doesn’t help.
There’s no atmosphere, no emotion, no resonance, no sense of place or time or period. The music isn’t a part of this film, the actors are not living their characters, they’re reading lines. They’re hitting marks. The sets look like sets, not like habitats – places where living is done. It all feels artificial.
Instead of just placing a glimpse of the demon from CURSE OF THE DEMON, fucking watch that movie. It tells you everything about what it is to not believe in shit, be cursed for just a brief time – and try to fight it, find a way out of it.
It reminded me of Helgeland’s God Awful HULK screenplay from years ago… Ain’t It A Fucking Blast Being The HULK? NO, IT ISN’T.
No – It isn’t good to be a servant of Satan. It isn’t neat. And action scenes are not… getting knocked down – then getting up, wielding your flaming chain into “SHAPE OF… a whirling tornado… a lariat…. Etc…”
At nearly every level I found this film immensely unsatisfying.
I wanted to love it. I’m the guy that was giving Mark a shot on this. I was excusing the lacking in the theatrical cut of DAREDEVIL on Tom Rothman… but I believe that man is still at Fox and not an executive on GHOST RIDER.
I suppose I wasn’t there for a PG-13 GHOST RIDER, but it isn’t even that. Being PG-13 doesn’t mean it isn’t scary. Being PG-13 doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt when your father dies. Being PG-13 doesn’t mean it all has to mean nothing. Being PG-13 doesn’t mean two people with history should act like sitcom actors from the 80s.
I just can’t lay this on the rating, the execs, the actors. This one is Mark Steven Johnson. He totally fucked up. There are moments where it looks cool, but that isn’t what this film should have gone for. That’s what plagued the SPAWN movie. Again a supernatural superhero tale that was an empty vapid waste of property and talent. But mind you. SPAWN was much much better than this.
When I left the theater I had a bit of a buzz about getting to see the GHOST RIDER on screen. That is cool. It is. But ya know what. I read something that someone online wrote – where they said something along the lines of “Do you know how lucky we are to see these characters on screen at all?”
Um. No. I grew up with these characters. I fucking love these characters. I’ve got complete runs of these comics, not for investment reasons, but because I fucking can’t wait to sit my kids down and let them discover these characters the way my father let me discover them. To light their imaginations with the possibilities of heroes and villains and endless possibilities.
But ya know what?
We’re not lucky to see our heroes turned into vapid fare. To see villains turned into pointless creations. These characters are not just drawings. They’re stories, mythologies and they’re fucking damn good.
Not all of them are good to me, but the ones I love, I fucking love. And when I am glad that my fiancée wasn’t feeling good enough to go see the movie, and I come home and I’m glad, because I’m fucking embarrassed by the shit I sat through. Embarrassed that all GHOST RIDER became on screen was some fucking cool animation with zero fucking point.
Well… Yeah, I get pissed off, because I do care. Fucking clown shoes man.
It’s not about just making a movie, it’s about making the RIGHT movie. It’s about seriously thinking about the most potential the character has and delivering it.
Oh – and don’t even get me started on the Australian version of Texas. Whew.
From top to bottom it stunk. Except for Sam Elliott and Peter Fonda. As I said – they were in the movie, I wish the others had been in.

Stop thinking that Nic cage can carry a movie. Nic cage is overpriced elvis impersonator, i mean he even married Lisa Marie Presely, briefly. He fell victim to the oscar curse and his career has never recovered. He used to be good.

It drives me nuts I tell you, nuts!! Why do they make such bad movies??? You have a great character like the The Rider - and they mess it up!! You have Daredevil - and they mess it up!! Harry is right - if you're not going to do a good job - don't do it at all...and I know what people say, no-one sets out to make a bad movie, but come one, really, at some point someone must have realised this would be a stinker! Where's the quality control? Really, where??

Interesting review. Sorry you didn't like the film, Harry. Me, I want to see this one because what I'm hoping for is the ridiculous load of nonsense you described. It's a guy on flaming motorcycle whose head is on fire - weighty and serious is not what I'm after.<p>P.S. I have to agree about Spawn. Jesus, that one was awful.

And he needs to shave his cheekbones. What was the point of having him ride his fire horsey all the way out into the desert just to fade away? "I only had one more in me, and I was saving it for this." Didn't the chopper from hell come with fucking GPS? Johnny Blaze can build a fucking bike that can jump the length of a football field but he can't use fucking MAPQUEST?!?!

Hollywood needs a major shake-up.
But in a way I don't blame them...they know no matter how many crap movies they shit out, people will still flock to drop their hard earned cash hoping this time it will be different, that the movie will actually be well written and acted...and it more often than not isn't.

I go to the movies to be entertained. Sure I, along with Harry, have grown up with Ghost Rider, Daredevil, all the marvel heroes in fact, so when it comes to the characters I love on the big screen, I leave all my expectations at the door ...I look at the film for what it is ...an adaptation! Someone else vision of the character. 'nuff said.

what the hell were you expecting? A guy with a flaming skull for a head with a "hellfire stare"? Based on a kiddies comic? Some things are best left on the page, its always going to be far better where it belongs.

Methinks Harry's RANT is way OTT, Ghost Rider with Nic Cage was never going to be anything other than a popcorn film. I loved Ghost Rider, I read the original comics myself but when I saw Nic Cage wearing that awful wig in the trailer I gave up on it being a serious piece and looked at it for what it was...A bit of SFX fun that you'll buy in the DVD sales.
As I saw the trailer all I could imagine was Cage turning around to Eva and saying "Put the bunny back in the box!"..

I'm glad I was able to wind my way through your review to get enough information to know that this movie will suck. Still, what happened? That was the most rambling and incoherent review you've ever written. It seems to be a rare occurrence that you even bother to write reviews any more, so when you do, try to at least proof read it over before you post the damn thing. I know that you hate the movie, but I still have no idea why.

I just finished reading the Preacher series and I really enjoyed it, and last I heard he was adapting it for an HBO run... I hated DD (any version) and Ghostrider looks like schlock... Can we please c-block this hack from handling another beloved property

Really AICN, you've been doing entertainment "journalism" for how long now? The reviews are almost as hard to plow through as the crap movies. "No soul on screen. Not anywhere. From anyone. Except Fonda. Sam Elliott had soul. Soulless movie." Throw in about a dozen unnecessary commas and you got yourself an AICN review! Can't you guys go take a writing class or something?

and lo and behold, Yack provides a "good morning" pic for everyone to salivate over. Dude, you're like Tom in Minority Report with the finger doohickey grabbing pics of hot babes like there's no tomorrow.<p>C'mon, how could anyone not think this movie ain't gonna be good?

When I saw that it was being directed by MSJ, who royally fucked up the Daredevil movie that had SO much potential. When DD started leaping around like he was Spider-Man, I knew we (the audience) were screwed. Then, the teeter totter fight just sealed the deal for me.
THEN, When I saw the first trailerfor Ghost Rider, and Cage spouts some crap about his head feeling like it was on fire... JESUS! Doesn't Hollywood realize that it's just this sort of CHEESEY SHIT that turns us comic fans off? I guess they figure we will see it anyway, simply because we ARE comic fans, and they are right. I'm going tomorrow, but only because my son is 10 years old, and is dying to see it. He will probably think it's "Awesome", just like the Fantastic Four". I will go for the simple joy of FINALLY seeing Ghost Rider come to life on screen. Maybe I'll take my ipod and listen to some Stepenwolf or something. I've been waiting for a ghost rider movie since they lit some motorcycle riding guy's head on fire in one of the Nightmare on Elm Street sequals. DAMN YOUSE MSJ! DAMN YOUSE ALL TO HELL!

From his Daredevil review: "These are quibbles. Problems that won�t keep me from returning this Valentine�s Day to see it. Nor will these problems keep me from attending an early morning screening on Tuesday..."

Finally. I knew Harry would get it. Thanks for the review.<p>This line sums up Hollywood's attitude to every property they grab - it's just property. Just opening weekend $ to fund execs' mansions and mistresses.<p>We as film audiences deserve better.

As you say in this review. Or was it "near perfect" as you stated in your DAREDEVIL review? And don't front, the original review was ALSO of the theatrical cut. Which viewing of said cut finally registered with you as being a disjointed, poorly paced mess of a movie? The second? Third? Fifth?

I've watched all the video out there about this movie and I am going to love it. I like popcorn flicks. Screw Blaze, I don't give a crap about a hero's alter-ego. Gimme action. Dump the dumb bitch that is always in these movies and just get out there and kick ass with all kinds of cool fucking cgi.
Sounds like you've been going to the wrong type of movie for what you want,might I suggest "Romeo and Juliet" may be more your speed.

i used to value harrys reviews on movies , but i think his making biddys out of alot of the actors has left him....changed. By no fault of his own, everyone would have to be changed , by becoming the success he has become , to the point of meeting all of these actors an director type people, love the site harry , but now i see you as the company and not the mom and pop store you once was.

Isn't that the point? It's cool if people like comic books, but you have to stop elevating them to the level of myth and literature. They don't deserve it, especially not this one. Can't people just accept that something is shitty and stupid and enjoy it for what it is without this insecure need to justify it? I am dumfounded that anyone over the age of thirteen expected this film to take its subject matter seriously.

it effing ghost rider! come on. bryan singer can't even get superman right, how can some shmuck pull off a decent movie about a superhero who rides a harley and works for the devil and has a flaming skull? come on. i haven't seen it, but it sounds like you were expecting some epic life changing movie. i know you and (i'll call them) whiner babies on AICN think all comic movies should be completely serious works of art, and they should be with certain characters. but others aren't serious material. ghost rider can't be taken seriously. maybe if he was just an avenging demon. but the guy rides an effing motorcycle. it's just not something a normal human can take seriously. so i'm glad they didn't take it seriously when they made it. cuz that would have been a complete joke to anyone who's never read ghost rider. seriously. kind of like the fountain. when i went to see it i was all wrapped up in it. i got it. but the numbskulls that filled the rest of the theater did not. they laughed the entire time. this movie was made for those numbskulls. and we can either snub it. or try to enjoy it for what it is. <br/> and another thing...comic book movies don't have that much to work on today. i bought a stack yesterday and sat down to read them late last night, and was kind of dissapointed with all of them (cepts astonishing x-men). maybe i'm reading the wrong comics. but what i'm saying is...yes the heroes are mythological legends. but that doesn't mean we even get good comic books about them. how do you expect some hollywood "i like to blow sh*t up" director to get it right?

Daredevil. He has finally grown up (no pun). I will never forgive him the Daredevil review nor the Van Helsing one. I couldn´t understand how any sane geek, regardles of how much he loves a comic book character/fantasy characters, can totally ignore the awfully stinking moments in both Daredevil and Van Helsing. But then something happened to mr. Knowels. He found Yoko and suddenly he sees the world with new eyes. He saw that X-men sucked big time. He realized that no cool comic book heroic moments can save a movie like X-men 3. And now he has proved again that he has matured. The only thing I ask the movie Gods now, is that no stupid producer will ever let MSJ near a comic book property again. Ever! And here is a review that says lots of what I felt during Ghostrider: http://www.latinoreview.com/filmreview.php?id=239
The sets are truly that aweful. Peter Jackson and Weta were building better sets back in the days of the Frigteners. In the end the worst thing in Ghostrider is that it´s not dark enough. Dark as in Batman Begins or Hulk. Or dr. Octopus in hospital moments.

On your next outing, you may want to take a few steps in befriending a certain website owner to avoid reviews like this. I know Harry's been accused of this for years, but at least to me, it seems that recently he just absolutely loves anything a friend of his touches (which he's always done, hell, he duped me into paying to see Way of the Gun). But beyond that, it seems like he's gotten downright malicious towards directors who don't attempt to buddy-up to him. I just have a strange feeling that if MSJ would have showed this at BNAT Harry's review would read "Of course nothing is taken too seriously, this movie is about FUN" I could be wrong...

coles notes: he didn't connect with it emotionally. thought it was too cartoonish and episodic. there was no atmosphere and the script sucked.
you need to take reading and comprehension again.
I love you.

I've said it in other corners and I'll say it again here. The fact that any of these franchises gets turned into a good movie is purely by happenstance. In other words, it's gravy - a happy accident. NONE of these things are made only for artistic reasons. That's right, NONE. Some get a better treatment than others. But even the best of them are made primarily to earn gobs of money to fill studio coffers and please the shareholders. Sad, but true.

not as good as Harry made it out to be, but still... And Ghostrider was better than Electra, but I´m ashamed to confess that I have seen that one... So all you pathetic (like me) Ghostrider fans who have any doubts still, there is the answer. Among all bad comic book films it´s still not the worst, but it comes very close.

Her screwed up DAREDEVIL and from the moment I read that he took over the GHOST RIDER project, I knew it was doomed. Hell, at least Goyer's draft presented the right idea (IMHO) of making it a horror thriller, but, no, we have to suffer through Johnson. I also blame Avi Arad -- did you see DAREDEVIL, Avi? Oh, and, to the brass at HBO, take MSJ off the PREACHER project as soon as you can.

Sorry, but Ghost Rider is a niche market and if you want a successful movie, you will have to make a film that appeals to the masses, kids included. Most people have never even heard of, much less read a Ghost Rider comic book. My wife and I, along with my nephews will go see this movie with optimism. I'm sorry, but Ghost Rider is not in the same league as a comic book like Batman, so you have to take it for what it is.

Ugh. That film is what happens when you take a comic book too seriously - flimsy characters padded out with a bunch of dull, sub-Oprah issues drama. Imagine the colossal arrogance of a director thinking he could turn a story about an angry green giant into Greek tragedy.<p>If you're going to give me comics, give me them stupid.

...To any behind the scenes junkets when the movie was filming, so for that perceived injustice, this movie will be awarded the label of "suck"? AICN's reviews suck, this movie looks cool, I'll see it. Period.

want to shut their brains completely off when they watch a film. Sure, I enjoy a bad movie every now and then, but I like to watch those movies with a six pack of beer and a couple of friends so that we can laugh at it. (Thanks to this site Gymkata is next on my list). Maybe if this is laughably bad I'll go see it, but from the looks of this it's just painful. Look, I'm not the smartest guy in the world but I just can't manage to completely shut my brain off, sorry. If you're proud of your stupidity (pride is one of the seven deadly sins and I think stupidity was the one accidentally left off), then yell it from the rooftops for all I care. Most of the time the box-office is a mystery to me. Why would people see such trite crap? But I also don't give it too much thought, until their ignorance affects my moviegoing. I'm not a huge Ghost Rider fan, but if this movie makes bank then who knows what other characters will be quickly pushed through the Hollywood meat grinder. Maybe one of these days they'll get someone I actually care about. So please don't go see this movie. I like comic books and I like movies so I shouldn't have to feel disappointed every time the two are combined.

He doesnt and cant do Critical analysis. In other words he cannot dismantle a film. The best writers do that. They view the film as a whole and say what is right and what is wrong, without resorting to Michael Bay is a hack. that is not good enough and it may be valid but it has nothing to do with whether a film is good or bad. Take x-men, harry hates bret ratner and he never said why he did. Which made his review stupid sounding or harry's mi3 review which was one the worst things i haver seen. MOst reviewers worth thier salt, tell you what they think of the movie with putting thier personal lives into or giving the game away, which is very hard thing to do, believe without being told dong give away the ending which is a very familiar refrain. I can tell you. I think it is about time harry got someone else to run this site.

I predicted this for months. They dumped it in Feb. for christ sake. Just look at the damn trailers. It's Nic Cage sitting on a retarded motorcycle (wheels on fires natch) and his skull head has flames on it. Oh, and he whips a chain around and can drive the motorcycle up buildings. I mean WTF? Who in their right mind thought this would be GOOD? How did this get the greenlight?

I don't want a comic book as high literary art translated to fine cinema. I just want a well-written, well-directed, well-acted, generally well-made movie.<p>How can people pay so much to go the theater to see Sci-Fi channel quality crapola? Why do audiences let this shit slide?

... Folks, there's a reason why movies featuring these 2nd-tier/2nd-rate comic characters are usually released in January or February instead of the Spring/Summer blockbuster seasons. When will you suckers ever learn???

WTF happened to cage? He had it and lost it now he gets the worst shit. Fuck he's gone the Eddie Morphy/Ice Cube/Steve Martin route, painful to watch.
And his participation in Dresden Files sucked the soul out of it. The cool shit is just gone.

Do you smell smoke?
my head feels like its on fire!
And many more great jokes that have something to do with the fact that he's catches fire but nobody knows. The TV spots clued me in to what a piece of crap this would be and the review seems to make perfect sense from what i've seen.

"already making a ghost rider 2"<p>At least they'll masturbate this franchise until they go blind without fucking up a completely new franchise for a while.<p>If making crap sequels staves them from making a crappy Moon Knight or Captain Marvel/Shazam - then, fine. Let them waste studio $ on turds.<p>Oh, supercowbell...there's no friendly welcome here - just jump in and don't take shit from the haterz.

...though it sounds like he chose not to do that here. He plays quite a few things well, actually. Another is the guy who is beat down by life and almost sleep walking through it. The other he plays well, though not quite as execptionally well as he plays the first two, is the hip wannabe Elvis kinda guy that nothing fazes. Question is which of those takes was the right one for a guy who;s cursed to ride a motorcyle with his skull on fire, and whether he and Johnson made the right choice.

actually, not really.<p>
If Ghost Rider was going to be any good, they would not be releasing it without HUGE blitz marketing a week before it opens (you know TF, HP, FF2, heck, even TMNT probably, will get it) or on February 16. The upside is no other major direct competition, but without cranking the media advertising, it's liek the studio gave the film a default 'vote of no confidence." <p> maybe the film is as "vapid" as Harry says, I wouldn't be shocked. But is anyone?

That he actually flatlined twice. The first time was okay because he just drooled, but that second time - when his bodily functions began to shut down - man, there was shit and urine mixing with the Sweet Tarts on the floor and it was hell to clean up.<p>Fortunately, as the story goes, Yoko (who always carries a portable DVD player for such emergencies) was able to revive him with some Brando dialogue from Donner's "Superman."<p>EMS techs said Harry's first words upon coming out of his first coma were, "Nic Cage did this to me."<p>The next time (after being zapped with the defibrillator), Harry was heard to yell, "Please! Don't show me his flaming nutsack!"<p>He didn't get a refund, but did get a coupon for free nachos (with Rico's cheese sauce) for life.

I knew it when they cast Nic Cage this was going to be a big stinky pile of nasty shit. Then the trailers. Oh the horrible horrible trailers. I laughed. I knew they would butt fuck this awesome comic book in the ass when I saw that first trailer. Nothing about this movie excites me. Not a damn thing. So reading what Harry has to say about it does not surprise me one bit it only solidifies what I knew this movie would be. I am not going to be suckered like I was with Fantastic Four from a knucklehead friend who said it was not as bad as everyone said it was. No that too was that bad and this too looks that worse and from the sound of it will be on DVD by April.

Shitty comic movies are not limited to Jan and Feb. Look at The Fantastic Four. Ghost Rider looked sloppy since I saw the 1st preview that featured Xena-level Special Effects. And Eva Mendes is not all that. Just because you are straight, young, and a dude doesnt mean you find every famous bitch hot. And if you are Latino like me and grew up watching Telemundo or Univision you know there are fucking waaaaaay hotter Latinas than Eva Mendes.

Is it really time for him to fuck up my favorite comic book Preacher?! This one goes out to those Mark Steven Johnson "fans" out there who think he's a cool dude. He's all TALK and not enough SKILLS. Don't be fooled by his "fanboy" ramblings. Giving Preacher to MSJ is like giving Watchmen to Tim Story.

None of the trailers did a single friggin thing for me, none of the screen caps did either. Hell, even the friggin LOGO was lame. I'm not surprised in the least that this film is getting trashed by anybody. I *might* see this as a Blockbuster Online rental - but I won't waste gas driving to the store to get it - I'll let it come by mail so I can just waste the two hours on it to get a handful of eye candy and move on. The ONLY reason I'll watch this is because I have a great fondness for comic book movies. I fully expect to be disappointed in it even with such low expectations. Having said that, I'm disappointed that it's getting bad reviews. I was hoping I'd hear great things about it and that I'd be proven wrong. It doesn't sound like it will happen, which is unfortunate. The more crappy comic book movies that come out like this, the fewer comic movies will be supported by big-name studios. I'm hoping the trend moves back the way it should - where directors like Raimi and Nolan get to show how good comic movies can be. The trash that some of these second-rate directors are spewing out only hurts the fans. This sucks. If you guys aren't going to respect the characters, don't make the friggin movie! Put some effort into it and do it RIGHT.

Ghost Rider and X3 all fall back on the fact that either they like stupid movies or that superhero movies should be dumb and empty. Wow, their honesty about their own intellectual failings is astonishing.

it sucked? really? nic cage looks dumb with "normal" hair - i cant get passed that - too bad - this coulda been a good superhero movie - with so many near hits to learn from theres no excuse - this movie was made for cable and dvd - thats where it will make up for any losses - so harry has kids? - who's the lucky monster... i mean woman

is because most of the writers and directors behind them dont like comics - and probably never did - theyre hired to adapt a property - a property they dont care about and in turn dont "get" - cage has made some stinkers but he is a good actor - see "adaptation"

Why do so many people come on here and bitch about Harry's reviewing?! If you don't like the guy's stuff move on with your lives!! It's a movie review!! Who fucking cares?! And just a question, if you hate his stuff, why do you read every one of his reviews? Oh right, so you can come on the talkbacks and bitch about to seem cool. Fucking losers.

This is the man who's going to be responsible for bringing Preacher into our homes? I really hope one of the other producers is talented enough for the both of them. Preacher is one of my favourite graphic novels ever made. When I heard that HBO is producing it, I was I was skeptical but also hopeful. I hope to god Ghost Rider sucks beacuse of the script, not MSJ.

Many of the writers and directors who make these films are simply not well-rounded. They don't have enough life experience and all they know is pop culture, so that's their only frame of reference. Their movies recycle other movies and have little else to say.

lol...yes, a good review because it is honest and passionate and didn't involve too much about Harry and his nephew or little brother whoever that kid is. I agree with you Harry that they are raping these characters for a quick buck and it is sad.

Which they show in Puerto Rico where my family is from. That shit is soft core porn in a variety show format. I think you can catch the show here if you got Digital Cable and Telemundo PR. But yeah there are hotter Latinas on the Spanish Language channels than Eva. And again this movie looked stupid from Jump. I have come to the sad conclusion that I am NOT in the target audience the studios are trying to hit up. These movies are for kids to watch the 1st weekend, love, then forget about them the 2nd weekend. Only thing serious we got right now is probably Batman and Spiderman.

is they don't treat the source material with respect. It's mythos, it conveys something about the human condition, it is not just about looking kewl, teen angst and being a smartass, which is what most comic book films are.

... is one of the worst movies ever made. Sorry, but there's no getting around that. Still had a kickass soundtrack though. As for Harry's review of Ghost Rider, I'm sure he's spot on, but what bugs me is that he actually thought it was going to be any good in the first place. I mean, I get disappointed by movies that I have high expectations for all the time, but I don't have high expectations for shitty looking movies like this. Nic Cage hasn't done anything of substance since The Rock, a genuinely good action film. The shittiness of this film is no surprise. I wonder what will get roasted worse, this one or The Number 23, which was putrid.

Anybody who goes in with expectations like harrys deserves to come out with there feelings hurt and be disappointed.I mean ITS A DUDE WITH A FLAMING SKULL.GR was never a fully relized property like X-men or Spidey.Theres really not much to it also,GR doesnt have some mythology or deep meaning underneath,its just a dude who sold his soul to the devil,got screwed and turned his back on satan.Most people that I know only know the skull NOTHING else.The movie was fine.

You really need to get a life, guys. C'mon I haven't seen this many 40 year old virgins getting in a tizzy since the last Star Trek convention when Shatner was a no show. Guys, its a movie! It ain't Citizen Kane, it didn't have the pretensions to be Citizen Kane, Hell, even Citizen Kane isn't Citizen Kane anymore. If I hear one more of these geeks whining about how XZY film based on the comic book where the two guys fight raped their childhood because it didn't live up to their expectations, I'm gonna puke. Geeks saying that their kid's entertainment future is in jeparody...first you need to find a woman, a woman that won't be turned off by your huge comicbook collection and Todd McFarland toy collection, THEN have kids...
Sheesh, I saw the film and it was good entertainment. Then again I wasn't going in with huge expectations but people go and see the film and judge for yourselves, don't be dictated to by a bunch of geeky weirdos who live in their parent's basements.

character. Well, no shit, Sherlock. You know, Hercules and Perseus aren't "important" characters either. You can toss out Othello and everyone else, too. I guess having a flaming skull throws off some real simplistic folks.

at night becuase he sold his soul to satan and whose head becomes a flaming skull. That should be dark as hell and scary. But most filmmakers are scared of getting an R rating. So they make thier films kid friendly. I know it sucks but that is the way it is. Kids and teens are the target audience. Cameron is going to have his film butchered. Cameron is a great filmmaker and I have nearly all of his films. I know Camerons films are not kid friendly. That is the problem. With a title like battle angel alita, I immediately think of a hard core war movie. NO matter how much technology goes into this and suspect the result will be stunning. The rating will be R. That will be the kiss of death for that movie. or not we will see.

I will see this because Harry loathed it so much. I have no idea what has warped his mind so, but his reviews have been garbage for years. Take your prescription pants and go open aintIcool, Harry, cuz that's the only vibe I've gotten from you for a long time.

This movie looks AWFUL....AWFUL GOOD!
I never cared for Ghost Rider. All I want to see is Nick Cage saying cheesy one liners. If it has that, I'll be happy!
Still, DareDevil was so good. We know what Johnson is capable of. It's a shame he couldn't step up his game on Ghost Rider.

Wow you really told us huh junior? Another keyboard commando who made himself feel better by bashing people who have a love for good movies and story content. Let me tell ya something you simple minded fucktard, if we did not care about movies then ALL you would have to chose from are shitfest like this new Ghost Rider film lingering around the theater like a stale queef from your pussy Frank. It's "fans" like us that help make sure we get a decent comic book movie once in awhile. See Chris Nolan's Batman. Are there still going to be turds that get shat out regardless of what we say? Sure. But at least we have sites like this to get the word out to die hards who care enough about the comics they grew up with or TV shows to tell real fans not to waste their hard earned money on a film that sounds about as exciting as stapling my dick to a 2 x 4. You can go ahead Frank and be the sucker idiot you are and shell out your duckets for this fecal stain on film while us "whiney" fanboys will chose to keep our money in our pockets and use some common sense instead of contributing to garbage. You sound a like a studio plant anyway. Maybe I am wrong because I am still a noob on the talkbacks but I am not going away Frank. Nope I will right here to confront ya everytime you want push another stool out of your yap trap. It makes sense to you would like a shit movie after all you do have something in common being shit yourself don't ya? Oh and for the record Frank. I got a woman. I am not 40 years old. I am in good shape and I bank a healthy income, I just love movies and don't appreciate when there is so much money spent on them that the director can't even go the extra mile to the source that made the stories fun to begin with. It's pointless. Ok I am done with my rant and I feel better now. *hands you a puke bucket*

It was cut up bad and had some ridiculous stuff like the park scene and DD fighting 3 baddies at the end one after the other and healing like a mutant from an apparently fatal wound.
I wouldn't be surprised if this movie despite its spectacles turns out to be flat too. I aint surprised that Harry's fiance didn't wanna go with him to the cinema - sh probably didn't want to see him screaming and yelling about how he only got to see a hint of curve on Eva Mendes.
I thought Harry said that the script for GR was very cool? That's the frickin story aint it?
Bring on Spidey3

"I saw the film and it was good entertainment. Then again I wasn't going in with huge expectations but people go and see the film and judge for yourselves, don't be dictated to by a bunch of geeky weirdos who live in their parent's basements."<p>
See, here's the problems with this cocksmoker's argument:
1. How is a poorly made POS film "good entertainment"? Are you that numbed by TV and pop culture that you have no sense of quality control?<p>
2. "Not going in with huge expectations" is COMPLETELY different than "Going in to see a well-made film." Even among popcorn movies, there's good and there's crap.<p>
3. "Go see the film and judge for yourselves." = "Help buttress the MASSIVE opening-weekend treasure chest for the movie company, thereby rewarding them for feeding you shit. Don't listen to people who actually saw the thing."<p>
4. Don't be dictated to...by ANYBODY. Including a piece of shit like Mr. Bullitt. If 70 people say a movie outright sucked, 15 people said it was okay, 10 people said it looks like a rental, and 5 people said it was awesome - you're not being dictated to. You're using your MIND to EVALUATE. You're making a decision for yourself. Just be warned.<p>
5. Ah, the Geekist Bias. I love assclowns like this who think everyone on here is some cut-out pastiche of geek stereotypes. I have a wife, kids, shitty paying desk job, and live in MY OWN HOUSE. My wife (with whom I enjoy MANY sexual relations) is as big a comic book "geek" as I am. Go to a ComicCon, pal - you will see plenty of ladies. It's not all about some grasping-at-straws stereotype/insult.<p>This post, my friend, is what is called OWNAGE.

They need to really get a good script written before they green light Superhero movies I think. Look at Indiana Jones 4....Lucas, Speilburg, and Ford all had to sign off on the script and it had to be good, otherwise they wouldn't do it. Hopefully that's good, though it's hard to continue to improve on a series with 2 sequels already.

I was one of those who thought "It looks like crap, but it might be the ads - maybe it's gonna be cheesy fun." I foolishly went to see it. It sucked. It wasn't cheesy fun. It was a bad movie. It was painful to sit through.<p>See, Mr. Bullitt, I followed your sage advice. Now, it is my duty to report back that this movie blew.<p>I disagree with Harry that Nic "phoned it in" - Nic was Nic. You either accept that or not.

Can't comment, haven't seen it.
To Mr. AllPowerfulWizardOfOz:
Jeezuz, I heard your shrilling all the way back here on the east coast. I hope you didn't wake up your parents. I am glad that you (and all the other members of this forum, since apparently you speak for everyone here) have such an inflated opinion of yourself and your own worth that you go through all the trouble of putting out profanity-laced diatribes across the world wide web. Unfortunately if you bothered to go outside every once in a while you'd see that this stuff doesn't amount to a hill of beans in the real world. Nobody outside of Harryworld cares, sonny. Now that you've insulted me I have no alternative but to call your parents and inform them of the naughty language their darling son has been using. I am also elated to hear that you won't be going anywhere; indeed this ranting board is some of the best free entertainment I've had in a while. Why whittle away fifty clams of yer hard earned cash at the airport bar when you're stuck in La Guardia in a snowstorm when you can log on the internet and listen to geeks flame each other over their all-important lives...I'd have to pay a $20 cover charge for this kinda entertainment.
"I got a woman(sic). I am not 40 years old. I am in good shape and I bank a healthy income, I just love movies and don't appreciate when there is so much money spent on them that the director can't even go the extra mile to the source that made the stories fun to begin with."
I'm glad to hear it, the fact that you feel the need to lash out at total strangers and give intimate details of your personal life shows what a big man and an important person you are.
Jeez, son...I take back half the bad things I said to Harry about his geekiness. There is a power vacuum to the throne in Geekdom sir and you have usurped it. Use your newfound power wisely, for with great power comes great...

Yeah, I get that the point of this site is everybody's a comic book geek. I like em too. But wow..."wah wah I want my heroes to be taken seriously..." You realize they came up with these characters to be entertaining, right? The movie's not going to be mistaken with a masterpiece anytime soon, but the way you describe it, your ideal Ghost Rider movie is about a thoroughly depressed individual who mopes around while developing Character. (By the way, Eva Mendes was hot in this, I don't know what you were talking about with the clothing.)

Oz, you've earned my respect with that rant. noob or not, the force runs strong in you :)
<P>
Frank on the other hand, you sir, are a flaming douchebag left burning on a porch. you made the fatal mistake of all those fuckheads who like to wax machismo online...you pulled the token "get a life and quit bitching cuz its only a movie" and "live in parents basement" bullshit. wow, how original. never heared that one before. if your life is so jam packed with excitment and your such a busy goddamn guy, why bother posting on these boards at all? shouldnt you be out painting the town red and parading around like a douchebag 15 year old in a sideways trucker hat and pre-torn jeans? heres the bottom line...you're a loney, fat fuck loser and have NOTHING better to do than post on these boards and build up your shattered ego while scarfing down pringles. so shut the fuck up and go see another thespian affair, like "Epic Movie" or "Stomp the Yard". i think shit like that will suit your tastes just fine.

There can't be any other explanation. I mean why would you waste your time coming onto a site about movies and then make your own "diatribe" about what is clearly a bad movie and attack people who are into movies, hence why they come on this website to be informed about what and what is not dreck? Does Harry miss a few sometimes by giving credit where credit is not due? Sure. But to tell Harry to "get a life" makes you look more like a tool then anyone else on these talk backs. Harry has more of a life then you could ever dream of my inept festering turd bugler. He gets to go to movie premieres, interview those who are involved in the industry and has obviously made enough of an impact that your sorry ass has showed up for the party here on Talkbacks to post your pathetic attacks and retort showing that you are the one who leads the insecure life to bash others for having a passion where you have lack there of. And my parents house? Ahahahhahahaha, oooo ahh darn I am crushed at that insult as I type from my own house you twat squash. Yeah I enjoy using profanity. It's fun, unlike yourself who seems to get only excitement from seeing shitty movies and fucking a cheap blow up doll named bob. Please Frank spare us your globe trotting tales that don't exist. Get back to doing what you are probably good at doing best, being Mr Douchebag #1.... after all you've earned you lucky guy! *and thanks Shogun ;)

oh well, thanks for the passioned explanation of your love for the character harry... i feel the same. i'll rent it anyway and see for myself. what sucks is people who don't know about gr will think this is it. damn.

I Find that hard to believe that anything could be worse than that pile of shit. I felt so embarrassed dragging my dad to see that movie that I had such high hopes for. If Ghost rider is worse than that pile of shit then I'm staying as far away as fucking possible. I knew nic cage was a bad idea as ghost rider, but i thought i could get past that and hope for an otherwise wicked film. Too bad. Fuckin bs we comic fans have been getting. The only saving grace is the Spiderman films, batman begins, x-men1 and 2, and sin city.... when will these fucks learn that the secret to success is following the storylines from the comics lore and being true to what made them so popular in the first place.

Really, Ghost rider, his bike looked sweet. I even thought nicholas cage was weird enough to be a good Johnny Blaze. The bad guys were so cookie cutter, the plot was dumb, and the ghost rider himself needed more edge, more dialogue, and less growling...
Eva was terrible, Blackheart sucked, Sam elliot was alright, peter fonda was good, its just the screen play was so bad, the fight scenes were not as brutal as they could have been, we needed more, but we got less. The movie would have been much worse without the helicopter scene by the way...

I really think Rodriguez or Tarintino should have made this film. It would have worked in Bmovie over the top style....With grainy cinematorgraphy. The atmosphere of the comics is similar to that depicted in grindhouse.

did u stay behind to take care of your woman? what a nice guy :) and i'm not being sarcastic. at least ur a geek with priorities ;P
<P>
and Oz your welcome and now we can be all BFF
<P>
same goes for Doc sin. thanks for the props, yo!

...and exactly what I expected. Christ on stick, it's a comic book movie based on a character with very little emotional depth. Ghost Rider has never been a comic that was anything but a big scary flaming guy on a bike fighting bad guys. If you go in expecting a B-movie, you won't be disappointed.

...of Ben Affleck, plain and simple. He simply added a third character to his repertoire of shitty acting which consists of playing himself (most films), playing himself with a cornpone accent (see Pearl Harbor...well, actually please don't if you haven't already) and playing himself blind. The guy has about as much acting range as Carrot Top. With better casting of the main character, DD would have been easily a three star movie.

...but now I know that Harry was not just poking fanboy holes in the movie.
I just watched it, and the movie is awful. There is nothing good about the story, script or direction of the film. Of course, all three were by the same bad, bad man--Mark Steven Johnson. (Why three names? Ego? Or, like Lee Harvey Oswald, an assassin?)
Not that the actors are to be forgiven. Excepting Harry's point of two okay performances by Peter Fonda and Sam Elliot, the acting was bad. Of course, the dialogue was so god-awful, it's no wonder.
Action sequences are meant to be full of action. Quips should be left to Spider-Man and/or Deadpool and/or anyone else at all! Ghost Rider should barely speak, and should never "Yee-haw." Never.
I can't say how much you should avoid this flick. Bad job Marvel. Bad job Avi Arad. Putrid, steaming pile of llama droppings by director/writer/story man Mark Steven Johnson.

Perfect description for what's poisoning so many movies that should be so much cooler. For example, I remember when we first started hearing about Van Helsing on this site. I was really excited about it--it sounded like a great concept. Then it came out, and it was complete junk. Stupid CG effects crammed into every frame of the movie, dumb cartoon weapons, a horrible and pointless story filled with tired cliches. It's as though Hollywood execs know that one flashy idea plus a glut of CG is all it takes to squeeze out a profit, and so that's all they try. No ambition at all. Now imagine Van Helsing with a budget of $2 million and only makeup and physical effects to work with--THAT would be exciting. This flimsy CG-stuffed crap is going to age terribly, and without the charm of 80s flicks that actually had to *work hard* to tell stories like these.

I'm sorry but whenever I see Cage on screen, I think about just how much of a wimp he looks like. He's not very tall, pretty skinny, with a receding hairline. In otherwords, not the portrait of an action hero. He doesn't do badass well, if at all. Mr. Cage, if you're reading this, please stick to comedic fare, and/or please read scripts and screen directors because frankly, for all your vaunted acting skill and the academy award that's collecting dust on your mantle, you just don't register, period.

Just like almost every other single comic to film jump that has crashed in a fiery flaming pile of shit. How shitty are these directors who already have a story, history and character designs laid out right in front of them and still find a way to butcher it? Worst Directors EVER!

on the money, RB. It seems for the past year or so, Harry's motivation for writing reviews has less to do with the movie, and more to do with how impressed we all are with his life.<p>
Make a sub-site called "Harry and the Humptersons" and posts these reviews there. I dont care that you still have comic books. I dont care that your finace didn't see the movie. I dont care that you fell head-over-asshole in love with a pretty silly comic book franchise. I care about whether the movie is worth a ten dollar ticket. No more, no less.<p>Ps: everyone knows when you're using 'writer's lisence' to make crap up. 'Complete run' my Aunt Bertha. I see your complete run of Ghost Rider and raise you my complete runs of Sgt. Rock and The Unknown Soldier. All i need now is a reference to a chick, and i can be The Man.

HAHAH his mock imitation of a harry review was hilarious. Harry's reviews are fucking crap. His enjoyment of a movie is all about whether he's gotten his fucking cock rubbed that day. For example, artery clogging chili cheesedog + coerced handjob by girlfriend = good review,...OR celery + brocolli + no jerking off that day= bad review...... Atleast when I get the morning paper i can expect a clearly written out review of the movies opening on the weekend without conjecture and the diarrea streams of consciousness we get from harry.

Cage is one of those actors who are a "one-act-show". Basically, he plays the same character (same mannerisms, personality, style, etc) in every freaking movie he's ever been in. He's the Jeff Goldblum of action movies.

I expected a *good movie*. This was a *bad movie*. How many ways do we have to spell it out????<p>I don't want this to be high art or meaningful cinema. I wanted something fun to enjoy. HOW CAN SOMEONE HAVE FUN AND ENJOY THE FILM EQUIVALENT OF PASSING AN EASTER ISLAND HEAD????<p>There is good pulpiness and bad pulpiness. There is good popcorn movie and there is bad.<p>This was BAD.

Ghost Rider made me shutter at the thought of what Superman with Nic Cage would have been like. I understand that GR doesn't have the depth like many other comics but this just had tons and tons ridiculous moments. Blaze's love of The Carpenters(I'm not a huge GR reader, so forgive me if he likes them in the comics) and that tacky cowboy hat and glasses just to be a little specific. Does anyone else agree that the young versions of Blaze and Roxanne were better than the grown up counter parts? I came out of the movie wishing that they had used the young Blaze instead of Nic Cage.

I mean sure we could've done some kind of background check and discovered that this was the same director who did DAREDEVIL and before that wrote a bunch of shitty comedies, but short of that, or seeing the trailers or knowing what the movie was about, I just don't see how we could've known this was coming. I don't know about anybody else but personally I will always remember this review just like I remember 9-11 or the day that asshole shot Lincoln.

Harry, your review was spot on. I just got out of a screening and I left disappointed. Usually, I even give the comic book movies a little bit of room (I even liked Daredevil and Fantastic Four). This movie, however, was awful. I enjoyed the trailer about 100 times more than I did the movie. By the way, the "300" trailer kicked arse.

Granted, I didn't grow up reading Ghost Rider comics and wasn't all that familiar with the character. However, the wife and I took our 11 year old daughter to see it tonight and we all LOVED it! Cool special effects, a good amount of humor, and a decent love story. At the end of the film the audience even clapped! This will be a huge hit. Can't wait for the sequel!

just saw it.... i ate cotton candy, which felt appropriate. It was like a slapdash carnival ride. Hey, it even opens with one. The best part, is when Sam Elliot says "LAst night, it happened, and it's gonna happen again." I wanted him to add "and you were wonderful, bonehead."

if someone is gonna make a movie based on a comic book character, then all we ask, as fans of the genre, is to at least follow the storyline of the books, or at least respect the myth of the character... ghost rider was never meant to be a kiddy story. and unfortunally, thats what they turn this flick into, not to mention the movie lacks any excitement or originality

to the different incarnations of Ghost Rider. It is mostly an action comedy but has a few ghastly moments. Cage is actually good in the part, like in National Treasure, he mostly underplays and is quirky with deadpan humor. Even when he goes over the top it works within the story. I also think Mendes was charming and funny. No one in this film played their part 100% straight - it's campy and deliberately so. I have to say I really liked Sam Elliot's Ghost Rider. The truth is where it lagged the most was in the fight scenes, but even those are entertaining. There was one scene that was particularly stupid which I will not mention, but it's a groaner and you'll know what I'm talking about if you see it.

even bother me. The guy knew he couldn't die and kept trying to off himself in his stunts - he became odd. I expected the story to be much worse than it was. They actually thought about the guy's character arc.

Zathras loved ghost rider....once again zathras must carry burdon of being right...and no one listens to zathras...zathras will just take jar of jellybeans and go back to planet with other zathras'as...

For the love of god, stop analyzing movies! When it says "Analyze this movie" on the cover, then do it, but now when it's about a guy that has a FLAMING SKULL!
Gez, the movie isn't dealing with current issues, it's not dealing with racism, woman struggle, drug/alcohol/mental/physical abuse.
It's a movie based on a comic book!
So do this: Forget everything you know about anything, think "For the next two hours, this movie will be my reality".
When the movie is over, ask yourself if you were entertained.

Character called Ghost rider and so there I cannot see what all the fuss is about. I know about superman, the hulk and the flash and wonderwoman and the fantastic four and spiderman, I saw the tv adaptations which are dated and the film ones. But mostly my faves were the British comics like the dandy and the beano. The first ever edition of the beano(1932 though i could be wrong) was sold at auction last year and it went to a private collector for £10,000. Lucky bastard. I Still have the dandy christmas annual from 1977. Two kids on the cover and one says oh look its and on the back the girl say its Santy Claws. What made the dandy and the beano stand is the glorious irreverance and the mayhem, beano's star was Dennis the menace and his gnhasher. The cartoon version sucks. That and Cosgrave hall bring back fond memories. Jamie and the magic torch, Chorlton and the wheelies, dangermouse and the wind and the willows. Dangermouse is the greatest british animated series of all time. all 133 episodes are out buy on DVD.

Are usually doomed. the geekiness takes over and makes the scribblers enter some form of either nerd-rage or orgasmation. I can understand that people have an invested interest in these properties as a result of the long back history and fandom but examples such as Daredevil, which as Harry originally said, was an entertaining good movie, but not worthy of the overflowing praise he gave it at the time. (also see Blade 2) Sometimes what is forgotten is that these are "Adaptations" and as such are subject to interpretation. The hatred for films such as Batman and Robin is justified to an adult audience who enjoy the dark tone of Burton's couplet of movies and the more harsh realism of Batman Begins, but the child-audience among us would prefer the Schumacher lights and campy action which is far closer to the 40's comics and 60's Adam West series. Horses for courses people. But I think the AICN crew often get a little too caught up in their own private comic collections to be a good judge for anyone other than similar comic fans.

Do you proof your reviews at all? Shouldn't the stream-of-consciousness rants be left to the posts?
And you fucking sound like a fucking moron using "fucking" to describe every fucking thing.
"Fucking" is the least inventive adjective.
You're just too lazy to think of the correct word, or to develop any structure.

Yeah, I'm with you Harry. I took my wife and three of my friends to see this last night. It was embarrassingly awful. Bad acting, bad dialogue, no character, no emotion, no depth, and they managed to stuff just about every awful action movie cliche into this 'film'.

...which points to a reasonably strong 4-day gross for Ghost Rider. I checked out the movie last night, despite the negative buzz, reviews, and my dislike for MSJ's previous comic book effort, Daredevil. Maybe it was just the low expectations I had going in, but I generally enjoyed Ghost Rider, and may even go back again this weekend to catch it a second time. I wouldn't say it's a "good" film, and I wouldn't say MSJ is a good director or writer - the choices here range from obvious to outright cliche across the board - but it does have an appeal. Somehow, MSJ managed to turn this concept into a pure popcorn movie, so it's very similar to Fantastic Four in that regard, and I think it'll play to general audiences in much the same way. I'd say I liked it better than FF, actually, just because Ghost Rider had a lot more geeky nods to the comics, and I bought into the characters and story a little bit more. But the two films aim for the same audience, in my opinion. Now, if I had set out to make a Ghost Rider movie, this probably isn't the direction I'd have tried to steer things towards. And if I'm being honest, a family-friendly, campy, action-comedy probably isn't the version of Ghost Rider I'd prefer to see if given a choice. But considering it is what it is, the film achieves the goals it sets out for. The disappointment some are voicing, I believe, has to do with wanting or expecting Ghost Rider to be something else, because what's actually up on screen is fairly entertaining.

but they are simple fun stories, mostly for kids, to enjoy. They are not protected. Think of how many times Marvel and DC revamped their heroes. Wasn't Ghost Rider in some Avengers group at one point? I think that a simple, cheezy movie is fine if it's entertaining for 2 hrs.
Oh, and Hulk was great. The best comic movie to date. Watch it again (on a big, 16x9 set, with real surround) feeders, not on some crappy 27" tube.

You really can't generalize like that. Watchmen, or Sandman, or From Hell - to many, those are comics that are great literature, and I'd argue their opinion is valid. Ghost Rider, in its comic book publication history, has never come close to that level. The actual comics are not a far cry from this movie - maybe a little less campy, but still full of all the cliches and horror schlock. A good writer and director can elevate comic book superhero concepts to more than this - some might point to Batman Begins as one example - but MSJ doesn't even try here, and that's good or bad depending on how you want to look at things. Ghost Rider will not elevate the genre. It will reaffirm people's general idea (in the U.S.) that all comic books are C-grade literature strictly for kids and retards. But it may manage to entertain a few audiences, too.

Other comic book movies that aren't that bad: Xmen 3 by the hated Brett Ratner and Fantastic Four. <p>
Don't get me wrong. Don't go in expecting a *great* comic movie like Spiderman 2. But it's worth watching on the big screen.

This is the type of opinion that keeps people away from comic books. Comics are a medium that contains more than just your average super hero stuff that is considered "just for kids." Anyone that's willing to open up their minds will clearly see that comics are literature.

I've been reading the talkbacks for 5+ years now without saying a word but this garbage propelled me to finally register and make a post. The movie was so unbelievably bad on all fronts, to the point that my friends and I often found ourselves laughing more than when seeing a movie meant to be a comedy. In fact in a strange way I would go so far as to say that I WOULD reccomdend this movie for that sole purpose. It would be absolutely amazing in an episode of Mystery Science Theater.

that play upon the themes of the character which are universal. Not to say that they cannot be wild and fun, but that at least they are thoughtful. And in its own way this movie is very sweet and funny. It's very traditional comic book-y in that regard. It seems more like a throwback to a Stan Lee comic than some of the more modern incarnations of GR. Now is it the best comic book? No. But I felt like Cage really tried to create a character and it fit well with his acting style. His character comes off as very gentle but troubled, which is an interesting contrast with what he becomes.

unintentional. The movie is not trying to take itself seriously, even for one second, although once it establishes the characters, it does expect you to care about them a little bit, just like any other film, even the campy ones.

Rider. There is this way, and then there is horror which would've needed an R rating. Which in any case since this is a Marvel property, would've come off as pseudo-horror and been PG-13. So they decided to have fun with it. At least the knew what kind of movie they were making, unlike, say, The Hulk. In the comics, Ghost Rider is essentially The Spectre of the Marvel Universe. He is a spirit of venegance, and really has no personality other than to scare the crap out of sinners and have a really crappy personal life (just like The Spectre). He really works best in the comics if he is more distant and removed, or a supporting character for others to play off of.

best. There also appeared to be at least some attempt to include demonology and not make up a bunch of complicated new mythology. Johnson, if you look at his film resume, seems somewhat preoccupied with the the spirit world.

Because if it is, then it should be damn fun. Daredevil was. I couldn't give a damn about how much in common with the comic book(s?) it had or didn't, or if it even was based on some comic books (I guess it must have been), but it was a fun film.

With all due respect Sir. I was pleasantly surprised by Ghost Rider. It was much better than I could have ever expected and after the excrement that was X3, this was a relatively nice breath of fresh air. Nicholas Cage was actually tolerable in the role of Johnny Blaze. Peter Fonda was horribly underused but still handled his part in the grand scheme of the flick pretty well. The special effects were excellent and I had a good time. Certainly not Spider-Man 2 Caliber but certainly not the worthless pile of suck that was Elektra. That movie was worse than this one. I certainly didn't hate it half as much as you did Sir. I thought it was a fun ride and one I wouldn't mind seeing with a sequel. Ghost Rider is one of my all time favorite characters as well and I was terrified at the idea of a shit movie but thankfully, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought.

I liked the fact that all the actors played their roles for laughs. Let's face it, the concept is absurd even for a story dealing with the fantastic or supernatural. At one point in the movie, Cage/Blaze was turning on the Ghost Rider skull with flame at will like a Bic lighter. The whole theater I saw it in was in hysterics.
And Eva Mendes' tits should have had some sort of on-screen credit. The girl has a smoking body. In each scene she was in, her shirt was progressively unbuttoned until by the end of the movie, the shirt was open almost down to her navel.

I agree with EVERYTHING you said
Happy Harry, I kind of expected the Ghost Rider movie to be less than great when Mark Steven Johnson said in an interview a few months back that sure he was a fan of the comic, puhleez, that's standard talk for these people just to make sure fans like us will have a reason to believe the movie will capture the heart of the character (Zarathos). I'm not all that interested in Johnny Blaze and less so Danny Ketch. Although the idea of Johnny's obsessive guilt possessing the demon instead of the other way around because the dark creature had his memories wiped away, thus his sense of self along with it, in other words it did not know what it was, and therefore adopted the idea that he was a creature of vengeance, was a pretty original concept.
Anyway you're right Handy Harry, in wanting better from this
particular character because
the Ghost Rider is so much more than just another costumed good guy (or bad guy for that matter).
He's more complex, after all we're talking about a being who can increase his power by having people believe in him.
(city of 20,000 souls, remember?)
But more than that, he has the potential of being a FAR scarier
individual than say, Freddy Krueger, Jason, etc. So that the movie could have been interpreted in my humble opinion as a true horror movie. Actually, there were several very interesting ways
Ghost Rider the Movie could have gone, all of them far better than what we saw, that is a shame.
Marvel the House of Ideas should not become Marvel the Assembly line
of CG cartoons. Pity.
Oh well, at least in my mind's eye
Zarathos IS a complex, frighting
character, worthy of being in a well crafted production by people who REALLY care about what they are doing, not just make a few more bucks for Marvel the COMPANY.
Rock on Household Harry, you're
DA MAN!!

If you're trying to be cheesy it just comes off as flat. The only film that managed this is Repo Man, but that movie is fucking genius, this film is not. The comedy argument is an interesting defense, but, like most comedies, I didn't think it was terribly funny.

Being around 10-years old when the Johnny Blaze GR comics came out, I didn't hop on board at issue 1 nor did I buy faithfully each month. He looked cool, so I'd buy an issue if it had a cool cover. There were also the inevitable crossovers in the issues that I did buy religiously through the years. And I know nothing of Danny Ketch. That's the extent of my GR fanboyism. The character simply didn't resonate with me so I realize I don't have much of an investment. However, I love comics, know how they work as a medium, and can tell when they widely divert from the source material.<P>Gang, how exactly did this movie divert from the source material? Those of you complaining -- have you read any of the comics? Sure they were peppered with a few inspired moments, but they were all camp for the most part. Again, no big GR fan here, but the source material rarely rose above two dimensions. Deadman was the one that was heavy on the drama at the time. Meanwhile, GR was about as deep as Tomb of Dracula. Remember that this was a time when a jive talkin' Luke Cage wasn't a joke and Paste Pot Pete and the Wrecking Crew were taken seriously.<P>Which brings me to this movie. What exactly did you expect from MSJ? Divorce yourself from geek fandom and consider for a moment how this guy had to convincingly sell this character to general audiences. Sure, I would have preferred to take this character down the R-rated path that Blade took. But I'm a comic geek. The same would have been much more of a gamble for GR given the cartoonish look of the character. Hence, there was only one other way to bring this character to the screen and it was the tongue-in-cheek, this side of camp approach that we got. It can make a property fall flat, but for this particular film, the humor wasn't heavy handed, nor was it relentless. In fact, I found it to be more subdued than the TB had led me to believe (e.g. the "How am I driving?" bumper sticker on the semi). And as I mentioned earlier, the source material was hardly multilayered and textured itself.<P>Harry, you say that you want to introduce your children to your comic collection one day. Some of us are introducing our children to these characters right now. I for one am elated that the material is being softened enough to share the movie experience with them. I still can't watch Blade with my daughter, but I can take her to see this and FF. Like the comics themselves, these movies should also be as much fun as the source material.<P>Harry, you complain about Cage seeing a skull in reflection instead his own face. As if that was intentionally placed there just for us. "SLAP, SLAP, SLAP." Really? Then how do you feel about Spidey in symbiote garb hanging upside down along a reflective building as his red and blue uniform is reflected back? Does Raimi commit the same crime as MSJ in at least this one instance, or is it simply okay for Raimi to do it and no one else?<P>Harry, you complain about the origin segment with young Blaze -- I guess perhaps it resonated with me on a different level than you. Frankly, I'm amazed at how much was portrayed in those scenes with hardly any dialog. To you, the senior Blaze looked like "a good father, a fun father." Really? The first we hear from the guy is his chiding of Johnny's showboating in front of Roxanne. When next we see him, he's passed out with a bottle of Jim Beam. If you get hammered in front of your underage child, chances are you ain't much of a fun dad. Did you see what Johnny took off the guy before he read the cancer letter? A box of cigarettes, the stuff that's killing him. And did you read anything at all into that scrapbook? It had pictures of his mother who is not present in the film. Perhaps the split was not an amicable one? Plus, the scrapbooks speaks about a bright future for the father and son pair, a future that ultimately led to a career in a poorly financed carnival. And finally, I have a 15-year old son myself. Trust me, at that age most of them could care less whether you're breathing. They can be so detached and self-absorbed, no matter how much of a good father, a fun father you try to be.<P>None of this means I didn't have my issues with this movie. How is it Blaze remains injured by a switchblade in human form, yet is unscathed after taking a full-bodied barrage of bullets? The bad guys lacked substance (just like the comic villains). Blaze runs into Slade way too conveniently. The burning lizard in the desert was a groaner. The "ghost rider gun" was ridiculous. I also didn't like how they only scratched the surface that Blaze is host to a sentient demon. And the rapid change back and forth from flesh to bone at the end of the movie flat out sucked, but I blame the actor's ego for that. We even get that in the Spidey films, where not a single passenger on an elevated train has a camera cell phone.<P>Bottom line -- if you go in expecting to have fun, you'll have it. If you're expecting Citizen Kane, you won't find it. But then, you shouldn't be going into a movie like GR expecting a magnum opus anyhow.

I'm sorry I mean I understand where you're all coming from in your argument that this is what we should expect given the nature of the source material and thus sit back and 'enjoy the ride' but I think what a lot of other people are saying here (myself included) is that there IS no ride to enjoy. The acting is atrocious, the posing trenchcoat wearing villians boring and extremely lame. I do think there were a few really cool looking shots of Ghostwriter but who really cares if the action scenes seem to have been planned out by a nine year old? And as for playing for camp, yes Nic Cage did an ok job but as for everyone else save for peter fonda and sam elliott... to be honest I didn't really get that impression at all. They were all just... really... bad. Especially Eva Mendes... jesus.

Have you noticed most folks who
thought the movie wasn't all that bad and critize you for being too demanding, etc., for the most part
read the comic every now and then and were never really into that particular book?
Therefore they regard the character as just another toon that was done a favor by being produced in the first place?
(a point you adressed I believe)
They say stuff like
Hey watta ya complain' for, it had good effects, didn't it?
It was just a comic for cryin' out loud, gimmie a freakin' break
will ya?
Aw, c'mon it was just fun, sit with your kids and have a good time already huh?
Etc etc.
I think I understand what you're trying to say, a point that others either ignore, ridicule, or just go in one ear and out the other.
Marvel does not try to sell their
material as anything other than a comic book in movie format.
I saw V for Vendetta and loved it!I never knew that it was based on a comic book and that was probably a good thing, for had I known,
I might have gone down the same road some of these fine folks
have gone. 'Don't ask for so much' is essentially what they are saying because for the most part they know it was based on a comic book, and react accordingly.
Had the people who made this movie NOT thought of the Ghost Rider as
yet another Marvel Creation
(and for that matter had Marvel advertised it as more than one more toon gone big screen),
you MIGHT have gotten something along the lines of V for Vendetta.
Then you and myself and others,
would be praising the movie as well worth the ticket price.
I guess these contrary opinions DO have a point as well, after all if you don't ask for much you won't be disapointed afterward, right?However, don't let these opinions of linited scope and expectations bring you down Harry the Ham!
You aight by me!
You never know, Hound Dog Harry, maybe one day someone who really appreciates the potential of a character like this one will make a fine movie, perhaps not for the kiddies, but that's ok, let them have their Power Rangers, Harry the witch boy Potter or whatever.

as Joel Schumacher is to DC. Except that MSJ has managed to kill TWO possible franchises. Hallmitchell, I wasn't expecting Godfather, but I was hoping for something closer to Spiderman than to Daredevil. Can anyone who hasn't seen this POS point out a cliche that they DIDN'T use?
Harry, the only thing about which I'll disagree with you here is about Eva Mendes. They dressed her just fine for who she was, and quite frankly, except for the SFX and her giving the "Girls" a little air, this movie had NOTHING going for it.

At least in my case, I'm a lifelong Hulk and FF collector and have hundreds of issues of each with straight runs starting from the mid-70s leading up to the present day. And I enjoyed both those flicks immensely.<P>Wasn't much of an X-Men fan, but I have a full run from the early 80s through the early 90s and entire runs of Excalibur and X-Factor among other spin-offs. As for the movies, all three were alright in and of themselves, but I absolutely hated their comic adaptations. They weren't the X-Men. They were Knifey-Boy and his Mostly Mundane Friends. The faithful approach given to Ghost Rider blew away anyone portrayed in the X-Men except for Magneto somewhat, who was still played by a thin, frail, old man.<P>As you can see, I don't quite fit the standard you painted with the broad brush. Please feel free to Google the site and my handle to judge for yourself if I'm lying.

Why not post a pic of him from Raising Arizona? My Name is Earl in the larvae stage may have made your point better. Unless you mean to reference how his outfit is the same in each movie?<P>Lookit, we finally got a subdued Cage. And he didn't keep doing jazz hands! Well, he pointed a lot though. I give you that...

Did you know that Blade rode a motorcycle that had retractable spikes in the wheels that allowed him to ride up the side of a building, vertically? Check out the comics, or even his appearance in the animated Spider-Man show of the 90s. Did you see that in any of the Blade movies? Of course not, because that would have looked ridiculous and would have been interpreted as such by general audiences.<P>We saw that in GR. Of course, because the character already looks ridiculous to general audiences. Riding up alongside a building isn't much more of a stretch, nor is lassoing a helicopter. Both which happened in the comics.<P>As I wrote earlier, Blade had the luxury of going with the dark, horroresque, rated-R route. Vampire flicks are often rated R and can even carry a movie all on their own without the inclusion of a superhero. To general audiences, he's just a foil to the vamps.<P>But there's no getting around a guy with a burning skull and a leather fetish. It was a business decision to go lighter and have fun with the character in order to capture a wider audience. And, heck... they actually adapted the character quite faithfully and well beyond my expectations, which says much given how adaptations go, especially comic adaptations.<P>On the other hand, I hear you loud and clear on the missed opportunity for a clothesline.

Would have been much better if they'd taken it seriously. And, you know, hired a director with any kind of talent. And for once, I would have liked to see a superhero movie without a pointless love interest. Maybe they could use the extra screen time for a tiny bit of character development. I bet this would have worked better as a tv series on some cable channel willing to get down and dirty.

"Would have been much better if they'd taken it seriously." Even the source material didn't take itself seriously.<P>"And for once, I would have liked to see a superhero movie without a pointless love interest." So long as women outnumber men and so long as men pine for women, you will never get your wish. Again, just like the source material.<P>"Maybe they could use the extra screen time for a tiny bit of character development." We disagree. I saw hella character development.<P>"I bet this would have worked better as a tv series" Now, here I agree with you! Given the pseudo werewolf premise and Blaze's acceptance and indulging in his power despite toying with the fact that he is indeed a host to a demon, that sure could have worked. But we got what we got and what we got wasn't Punisher 04, Man-Thing, Blade 3, or the X-Men series.

or Dreamworks.....and if there had been on-set access, previews of animatics, interview with the director "by a non fan". I read this review and completely understand where Harry is coming from, however, this fervor seems completely devoid from the AICN team regarding Transformers. The problem is they put GR in leather and chains when they should have had him outfitted by G Unit. In addition to the street cred it would have made his ribs look better.

I love comics. At one time, my collectio was over 20 long boxes. (no idea of how many total though). I sold the collection, but still buy occasionally for fun. And that's what they are, fun, with occasional peaks above that. I have Watchman and all the other greats. But most are not to that level. Movies aren't eaither. THey're made to entertain, and maybe provoke some thought. But mostly entertain. Even below average movies like DareDevil were fine in my book. I liked FF, even though it could and should have been better. But I think the best comic movies and the worst, are separated by a very thin line. I'll watch, and buy them all. And it's good enough.
None are as good a Buffy though...

His human host is. Always has been. They have to give him a human side because his only purpose is to be a spirit of venegance. The only way to make a really good horror GR film is to not have him be the main character, but have him be the monster character. Which means, you'd have to have the victims the main characters, however, that would also make them the villains to be deserving of the penance stare. At the same time, GR is supposed to be a hero representing justice, so I can see where it's problematic. That is why GR always gets hitched with the human host with the love story. This movie is still faithful to nearly every incarnation of GR, though.

GHOST RIDER and DAREDEVIL are both Marvel comics meant for readers of all ages, not just grownups, so of course the movie versions are going to reflect that. R-rated movies based on those comics are an impossibility, at least right now. PREACHER, on the other hand, doesn't pretend to be for anyone other than adults. You can't find the comics at a drug store, and you can't buy a Jesse Custer toy at Wal-Mart. When PREACHER was intended as a movie, I was very nervous. I love that series more than any other comic I've ever read, more than most novels I've ever read, and even more than most stories I've heard or seen in any medium. Now that it's at HBO, I'm breathing easier. I know this Johnson fellow has a more-than-spotty track record, but his hands won't be tied nearly as tightly on this property as something owned by Marvel with big merchandising money behind it. I didn't completely despise DAREDEVIL, I'll wait for the DVD for GHOST RIDER, but if this guy doesn't hit PREACHER completely out of the park when he's adapting it for the medium to which it's best suited at a network with very little content limits, then I'm going to have to punch him in the face.

This Movie Suck some major Testicles and I know Cage played this light but I dont think it was the movies intentions to be funny the effect were lackluster and ultimately this movie was nothing I haven't seen before. Yack Dont waste your money.

the next BLADE. But TPTB wussed out... again. NEXT time, please call Guillermo del Toro, Alphonse Cuaron, or whichever other Hispanic director has free time, leave him alone for several months and let him make a great R-rated superhero flick that fans, critics and the general public will all love! All they're putting out now is watered-down goat pee NO ONE wants to see.

" I took my whole family and we loved it! I'm going again!" ... the other PLANTS " Just go see it for yourself, it's not that bad." " I never read the comic so it was ALL GOOD to me." " I just want to not think for 2 hours so who needs a STORY" and the worst is " I knew it was going to stink but I WENT ANYWAY!" This is why this movie has made $15 million and will be the #1 Movie this weekend and why the second sequel will be more of the same crap. You all make the STUDIOS THINK THEY ARE DOING THE RIGHT THING with these half-ass PG stinkers. On regular TV all the Ghost & Horror shows ( and cop shows )push GRAPHIC GORE way past what shows up in these lame PG-13 movies that YOU PAY FOR! And pretty much any hour TV drama has better writers than these $100-200 Million dollar comic turkeys. Only if you STOP giving in to this crap of " I have to see for myself that it sux..." will the Hollywood system stop crapping on us fans. I'll be spending my $$ on something else as I still have the stink of CONSTANTINE on me ...

Interesting debate. If was an exec. at Marvel. I would well we have given Mark two chances now. He really hasn't hit one out of the ball park yet.
Good honest director, does some good stuff. Yet isn't blowing the fans away.
Maybe Rob Zombie. Remember directors do make a difference yet the bottom line is script.

I don't know about an overall consensus, but judging from these talkbacks there is alot of positivity towards this movie. And many of you are mentioning X-MAN 3 as an example of a terrible comic book movie. I remember those talkbacks, I'm surprised nobody was killed in those. You people fucking hated that movie, you wanted to cut off its tits and wear them as a belt. I was there.<p>
But I really don't understand this one. Please, without mentioning the magic crystal in Juggonaut's helmet, explain to me how this is better than X PART 3. I know you guys hate Brett Ratner like he stole your woman, and I'm not giving him full credit for that movie, he obviously followed Brian Singer's template and had his cast and writers and everything.<p>
But X PART 3 had a story that had relevance to the real world, with the whole idea of the "cure" for mutants, the ethics of how to use it, and the subplot of the angel guy trying to cut off his own wings because his father makes him ashamed of himself. The movie also has characters that we care about (even if that's because we already saw them in the other movies) and I thought it had plenty of "oh shit" moments that got me going, like poor Mystique getting "cured" and abandoned, professor baldie getting killed, the bastard X-Men unethically curing Magneto, the chess game at the end, the little snippet after the credits, etc. I got so much more thrills, laughs and emotions out of that movie than GHOST RIDER.<p>
Also, while we're at it let me also make an argument for HULK. That was a really clever and ambitious movie that mirrored the split personality of the character. Half of the movie is a slow-moving character drama, the other half is a balls-to-the-wall action movie with a monster throwing tanks through the air and shit. The action scenes are obviously better than GHOST RIDER's, the computer animation looks better and has way more personality, Nick Nolte provides a way more entertaining version of the over-the-top camp you guys are talking about with GHOST RIDER, and even the intentionally slow paced parts are more involving and emotionally true than the main story of GHOST RIDER. Of course, it's not really designed to appeal to everybody in the world, which is part of why it's so amazing that it even exists, but it needs to be said. That's a good movie.<p>
And now that I've dug my grave let me also mention that to me THE PUNISHER was a hell of alot more fun than GHOST RIDER. It had some silly shit but Thomas Jane made a good portrait of a vengeful lunatic, the villains were colorful and there were some good fights (like the dialogue free fist fight that destroys the apartment building). I guess that was more like a straightforward revenge movie, but there was some comic strip in there. Like GHOST RIDER I went in expecting just to laugh at it, but unlike GHOST RIDER it won me over and I was sort of embarrassed to realize that I actually liked it.<p>
This is not meant as a loaded question, I really don't get it. Why do you guys constantly shit on those three movies, then turn around and give this silly thing a pass? (Or DAREDEVIL for that matter?) Is this all about literal fidelity to the comic strips, or is there something else I'm missing here? It seems to me HULK and PUNISHER are clearly light years ahead of GHOST RIDER in originality and on a technical filmmaking level, and BRETT RATNER PRESENTS BRETT RATNER'S X-MEN PART 3 I think has a hell of alot more substance to it. So what's the deal? Why am I so alone on this?<p>
thanks in advance your pal Vern

"...We all loved it. Everyone clapped at the end. I'm seeing it again. Can't wait for the DVD. The romance was great...." Come on now. This is just the old carney con of the sideshow. The ads look flashy and cool but after the show no one wants to admit it wasn't worth their two bits. ( I'm talking about today's State Fair type not the old school sideshows with real freaks- that was worth 2 bits!)

I think the talkback illustrates my earlier point that comic-geeks are incapable of reaching any consensus on a film adaptation of a work. Agent Sith mentions the Dolph version of the Punisher, which isn't that a bad movie considering, true it ditched the skull motif and is a fairly naff 80's actioner but it was a self-contained movie that didn't pander to fans. I hold scant little hope that Ghost Rider is worth watching, but coming o it with no knowledge of that comic will undoubtedly make it more appreciable to me. But conversely, I quite enjoyed X3, sure it wasn't a patch on 1 and 2 but it was certainly watchable and entertaining, Daredevil was ok in my book, Hulk less so, and I hated FF4. The constant screams of "ZOMG, they changed captain pluto's cape from green to red, I must kill the director and eat his babies." is not only tiresome but ridiculous. Viewed as ADAPTATIONS most of these films are enjoyable in their own right, but Geeks won't have that.

GR was a fun special effects movie, but I don't think I would've enjoyed it much if Ghost Rider had been one of my favorite comics ever (which X-Men is). I went into the theatre knowing nothing about GR except the name Johnny Blaze... that's it. That's all I knew. I didn't have comics baggage to throw me off enjoying the movie. Now, then, before I saw it I saw many negative reviews and therefore lowered my expectations. Because of that I was able to enjoy those cool moments without feeling the anger caused by the film's problems, which I'll admit there are more than a few: Cliches upon cliches, corny line after corny line, special effects for the sake of special effects, villains way too easily dispatched. But I went in epecting a B movie. I got a C, C+ movie. My disappointment therefore isn't as great as those who are expecting Hollywood to get A+s with each comic franchise. Statistically it isn't possible. But if you went in hoping for A+ and you get C, you're going to hate it. I, meanwhile, had some fun at the theatre and am currently scouring Google Image Search for Eva Mendes pics. For scholarly reasons, of course. X3 still rocks, though. I don't care who you are or how many movies you've seen, X3 rocks.

with Nick's boney ugly skull...ya know..the one he had in 9/11. Anyways, it wants to be CGI-removed from The Wicker Man with remaining head skin filled with new found acting ability. PS hair dye and 'hollywood white teeth' say 'ME TOO!!!' to bailing. Kisses!

Truth is, I've found something to like in all the films you named. X3 wasn't nearly as bad as I feared it would be, and certain aspects of it were quite good - though it's clear it's a much more dumbed-down and glossy version of a superhero flick than either of Singer's pictures. I've defended Hulk numerous times, but it's a waste of time to do so, really, as the hatred toward that film can only be described as unreasonable. The Punisher I also find quite entertaining, though I acknowledge it's another case of the die-hards not getting what they expected or wanted. Thomas Jane was great in it, I believe. I even liked Elektra somewhat, and that film's almost universally loathed by the fanboy-set. Really, the only modern superhero pics that tanked for me (appropriately disregarding the insulting shit-fest that was Catwoman) were Daredevil and Fantastic Four - the former because it took great source material and gave it all the depth of a crappy music video (with its style ripped off from other sources), and the latter because it unforgivably fucks up arguably the greatest villain in the history of comics, and chooses to borrow NONE of its style from Jack Kirby, which is just idiotic. Even in those two cases, there were some aspects of the films that I enjoyed - just not enough to outweigh the stuff I didn't. For me, Ghost Rider hovers above FF and Daredevil in that mixed-bag area of the other superhero pictures you named, but definitely below superior efforts like the Spider-Man movies, Batman Begins, X2, etc.

My best friend and I went to see Ghost Rider last night, Both of us are 50 and have been heavily immersed in the world of comics since we were elementary school age, Particularly in the Marvel Universe.
We liked it a lot. we both felt that the film was well paced, competently written and directed and exhibited great care in preserving and advancing the mythology of the Ghost Rider.
Quite frankly, we don't understand nor agree with Harry and the sheer negativeness of the review.
Ghost Rider gave me, as a comic fan exactly what I wanted to see. Nic Cage actually fleshed out a lot of the character of Johnny Blaze that I have always had some difficulty putting my finger on.
Kudos to SMJ for this work.

you may go into a film no knowing what its about. Therefore one might enjoy film that way. There are too many trailers. Judging the success or failure on either a 1 min or 2 min internet clip is ridiculous. trailers are misleading anyway. I would like to hear the full story of why singer left the x-men series.

...but not great and I have to agree with Vern, all the geeks hated it before they saw it due to Ratner's involvement. The funniest thing of all is the geek-god Singer went off and made a tepid Superman movie that was a snoozefest. Meanwhile, Ghostrider is what it is, a B-movie about a flaming skeleton who rides a motorcyle. Let's face it, the character has never had much in the way of depth.

Singer by not renewing his contract so that he could get him on board for cheap. I would imagine that would piss anyone off. Oh, and X3 sucked. Sorry, but there's no way around it. The deaths were not even shocking, they just sort of happened. I kept on thinking to myself, hey, when is Cyclops going to come back...wait, he's actually dead, oh, well. The subplots of the Iceman, Kitty Pride and Rogue love triangle and the Angel vs. dad scenario both consisted of about ten lines of dialogue each and weren't terribly involved. The film felt rushed and the final battle was soundstage-tastic! And can anyone answer me why they had The Phoenix just stand there for the entire final battle while everyone had their powers taken away? Makes no fucking sense. I could go on and on about the problems with that movie, but I've already worked myself into a rage.

There's a dude in Sweden named Eilert Pilarm, who's famous for mainly three reasons. 1) He's seriously half mad 2) He is completely and absolutely tone deaf 3) His Elvis Presley imitation. Now, the most hilarious thing about the Eilert Pilarm mythos is that if you play one of his recordings to someone else who is completely tone deaf, they will not see what's wrong with his singing. Maybe there's some similar movie-version-of-tone-deaf-reason why Ghostrider is defended by some?
btw, check out Eilert Pilarm at myspace.com/eilertpilarm

death worked. He just disappeared. It was abrupt and weird. No final words, no sacrifice, he just disappeared. They could have come up with a far better way to send off THE X-man. Oh, and I'm 5'9 and 160lbs, so I hope my opinion holds some weight.

because it did 44M openg wkd. And the idea's to make it play with the audience, right? As a one-time reviewer I found that colleagues I respected the most could hate something on a personal level yet still understand what other people liked enough to say whether it would work for them. And they also wrote as if there was something between absolute crap and cream your pants incredible. Most movies simply fall way between the extremes but too many reviewers can't write or don't like to write a review unless they can slam it or jizz on it.,

Over 33 million over its first 2 days - it'll easily surpass 50 First Days as the best Prez Day opener ever. Saturday's increase over Friday tells me somebody out there liked it and told his/her friends as much. I thought X3 was OK, mostly cuz I loved Grammer's Beast. What drove many fanboys nuts was the shoddy treatment of Cyclops in that movie (and the X-franchise in general). There's no such disrespect for Johnny Blaze in GR - it's fairly faithful to the comics and the two hours passed by breezily, with some thrills and laughs thrown in. Could've been better, but the comparisons to Batman and Robin are completely unwarranted, IMO.

was a great send off to one of Marvel's greatest characters, then I guess that's just your opinion, even if you happen to be wrong. Also, letting the other X-Men run away is hardly the greatest sacrifice. I'm thinking of something a little bigger. Also, I was not determined to hate. In fact, I was actually holding out hope for the first half of the movie, until it became too painful to handle. There were a couple of things I actually enjoyed about the film: Kelsey Grammer was a good casting choice and the fight between Wolverine and the man with the arms that grew back. Of course, these good moments were few and far between.

I'm a long time lurker but having read this "review" I felt the need to say something.
Damn, Harry that is one awful attempt to review a film. I understand you dislike it but the rest of the incoherent rambling mess gives few reasons. It seems like you are looking for an excuse to throw out a few pop culture references at random. Give reasons for why you dislike it and put some structure into the review. This is even worse than your pathetic masturbatory Blade 2 review and believe me that takes some beating in the bad review stakes. I have heard people who have had 10 beers produce more coherent and better thought out review than this mess.
With regards to Daredevil it is deeply flawed but the Directors cut is significantly better than the theatrical release.

First of all, thanks everybody for answering my essay question. Sorry if I turned this talkback into X-Men Part 3 talkback.<p>
YACKBACKER: Yes and no. I too was shocked when, before it came out, I read it was a $120 million movie. After seeing it it makes a little more sense, because there are tons of computer effects throughout the movie. On the other hand, I don't think there was a single IMPRESSIVE effect, either as far as groundbreaking technology or just visual style. This is a cheesy looking movie. I think maybe nobody cares anymore judging by the ugly cartoons you fuckin potheads watch these days but we used to want movies to be artistically designed and this is not that. So, I wouldn't have thought it was a low budget movie, but when you consider they spent more than twice as much as they did on BLADE 2 and this is all they came up with it's downright tragic. <p>
ZOMBIE SOLUTIONS: Well, I wouldn't be so blunt about it but that has always been my suspicion about HULK. Nerds are always complaining that Hollywood doesn't respect their comic strip heroes and doesn't care about them as characters, then Ang Lee goes and does exactly that and they say "why is half this movie about emotions and character drama, and only half is about PUNCHING? I want to see NON-STOP PUNCHING! How am I supposed to jerk off to all this crying and sadness?" (paraphrase)<p>
So even though I'd love to see another movie like Ang Lee's I couldn't help but be delighted when they hired the fuckin TRANSPORTER 2 guy to do part 2. Careful what you wish for, nerds. Ang Lee was too smart and serious for you so they hired somebody whose talent is draining out any sign of human intelligence and replacing it with goofy fights and flipping cars. (Don't get me wrong, I actually enjoyed TRANSPORTER 2 for exactly that reason.)<p>
I think you're laying it on too thick for Brian Singer though. I don't think SUPERMAN RETURNS IS THE ACTUAL TITLE I BELIEVE was that bad, I actually enjoyed it although I agree, X-MAN 3 had more substance and was a more effective story. But mainly I think there's no legit reason to keep bringing up Singer's gayness. His Superman is exactly as gay as any other Superman, and in fact the whole movie is about trying to get a girl. X PART 3 on the other hand, while directed by a heterosexual grown man who apparently once stuck his dick in the little girl from the remake of the PARENT TRAP, has the most gay subtext of any super hero movie ever. It's not as "fruity" as BATMAN AND ROBIN but it is clearly dealing with important issues that affect the lives of gays in modern America. What I'm saying is, you constantly bringing up Brian Singer's gayness is sort of like the dude who didn't like X-THREE because Juggonaut didn't have a magic crystal in his helmet.

That's what i don't get. Why do movies that suck, or are mediocre at best, make so much damn money?!? I mean, Fantastic Four, Night at the Museum, X-Men 3, etc. pull in the money with fun effects and crappy stories. But, movies like Batman Begins, Superman Returns, V for Vendetta, etc. which have awesome stories and still good effect hardly get any attention! Now, WB is messing up the Flash by pulling a great writer/director and going with some dude that made money on a crappy movie. Can someone help me figure out why bad movies make money and good, quality ones, struggle to keep up? thanks for your help.

the average person is a complete idiot. There's a George Carlin quote (at least I think it was George Carlin) where he basically says, Think about how dumb the average person is, and then try and wrap your head around the fact that half the population is even more dumb than that guy. It's astonishing.

Well, I sure hope not. The Blade series is empty. It has no point, the characters are faux coolness at best. If they had made a serious GR movie, I would hope that it actually explored something meaningful and was not a bunch of goth/numetal vampire crap.

X is dying and looks back at a horrified Logan, at peace with the fact he is moving on. It was a father/son moment. The whole X series is about Logan finding his way - he comes full circle at the end finally stops running, adopting the X-Men as his family. He stops being selfish and wallowing in his pain and grows up.

you won't think "120 million and worth every penny" because it's not that kind of a film. It's actually a small film with some expensive action scenes in it. But there are really no BIG moments, maybe the one scene with him riding up the side of the building (the best action scene in the film) but that's about it.

...it would have been like Ang Lee's Hulk and people would complain about how it bored the piss out of them. In Ang Lee's GR, it wouldn't have been a deal with the devil that turned Blaze into GR. It would have been some childhood trauma that he'd kept under wraps and now it manifested itself as a flaming skeleton on a motorcycle. We all would have made fun of that, for sure. Bryan Singer's GR would have been Blaze's closeted homosexuality manifesting itself as a flaming...oh, sorry...that one was way too easy.

horror comic book movie, give me Ghost Rider anyway. I even think The Crow basically sucks compared to the comic. When is goth influence going to go away for awhile? Perhaps it is personal taste, but I am sick of everything pseudo-horror-"dark" having a goth tinge to it. Daredevil had this as well. It is it's own cliche at this point. I am GLAD Ghost Rider didn't go this route, in fact, it kind of made fun of that a bit with the Goth chick rescued by Ghost Rider who goes into his appearance and then remarks that he could pull that look off, and also whiney Blackheart the emo goth villain.

The visuals were great! I would have liked to have seen a fight with old Ghost rider vs the new one. It seemed too easy for old Ghost rider to give up the world shattering contract. I would have been like, "you want to give this Earth ending as we know it item to the Devil for your buttsmack? No way!" But they rode through the dessert with a horse with no name and then old Ghost rider dissappeared. I hope it makes it's money for the weekend for a sequel.

You guys take GHOST RIDER, we will take BLADE, and we should probaly build a wall between us too because Jesus you people, you'd rather have that than BLADE? Finally I understand how wars are started. VIVA BLADE SIDE OF THE WALL.

Anybody notice how he'd been saving up his powers just to look cool when he rides briefly through the desert (nice shot for the trailer) and accomplished nothing? <p>
Come to think of it these characters are all idiots. Johnny Blaze doesn't know how to call his girlfriend to tell her he can't run away with her at noon. Maybe it's all those jellybeans and monkey movies damaging his brain. Sam Elliot doesn't know how to save up his magic powers for something useful, so he wastes them. Peter Fonda is the devil but doesn't know how to use any cool powers so he just has to get offended and walk away when Johnny Blaze tells him to fuck off at the end. And the other bad guy spends the entire movie trying to a get a magic scroll with the power to MAKE HIM VULNERABLE TO BE INSTANTLY KILLED. Blade would never hang out with these morons.

No, Blade is not trying to be cool, it just IS. This is a guy who slaughters something like 50 vampires who are soaked from head to toe in blood and he doesn't get a fuckin drop on him. Effortless, like Shaft. You're right though, GHOST RIDER is definitely not cool. But I do think it was trying with all that shitty rock music and those rock n roller villains. Admittedly it's not trying as hard as DAREDEVIL, which is probaly why it's a little less embarrassing. Anybody on Team Daredevil? Or Team Spawn?

and he knew the new Rider would come looking for him (hence the explanation about the succession of Riders). He wasn't the Rider anymore - why would he need to "do" something? Blaze was accosted by the devil on the road - did the tree Roxanne was standing under have a phone, Vern? Blackheart had the scroll he didn't need to absorb all of the souls, but I agree I saw that one coming a mile away. The ending was the worst part of GR. But seriously, these are all really nitpicks. I mean, it's nowhere near as cool as emo goth vampire Deacon just happening to need to sacrifice Blade in his goofy sarcophagus contraption. In fact, the mythology in every Blade movie is overwrought and nonsensical even by its own standards.

Why do they push all the B-list superhero movies to the early part of the year? Granted they do well, both Ghost Rider and Daredevil earned $45 million there opening weekend, but compared to the FF movie ($56 million) and Hulk ($62 million) which are both extremely crappiest Comic book movies, wouldn't it make sense to push the movies to the summer? Thats the reason why these movies have bad ratings, because they're dumped in the worst time of the year.

When you see his appearance in shadow he is weak. That is why he arranges contracts and embues others with power to do his dirty work. His son is Nephilim, like the others, which is half human, half fallen angel (demon).

Sure, the film did well this weekend, but that's a completely separate matter of how good a film is. A film's box office is not always related to its quality. There's even a chance that if this was a good film, then it would have done even better at the box office. Hell, I would be interested in knowing how much money acknowledge masterpieces that bombed have made through DVD and VHS sales years later (an ideal example would be Blade Runner).

I don't know superninja, it seems to me you're cheating on this "emo" shit. (And by the way, you kids need to retire that word, it sounds fucking ridiculous.) In Blade they have characters with leather jackets and yes, some of them are supposed to be cool. In The Matrix they have characters with leather jackets and they're definitely supposed to be cool. In Ghost Rider they have what you are saying is supposed to be that type of character but somehow you assume they are NOT supposed to be cool? So what you are saying is that these were INTENTIONALLY lame villains? If that's what you're saying I want to know 1. how do you know they weren't supposed to be cool and 2. how do you know the villains in ELEKTRA, DAREDEVIL, SPAWN, BATMAN AND ROBIN, etc. weren't also intentionally lame?<p>
And I don't think you justified the cowboy's final ride at all. Yes, he said it was his final ride and he'd been saving it up. Why was he saving it up though if he didn't use it for anything?<p>
Blaze was accosted by the devil on a road at dusk. He was supposed to meet his girl at noon. Etiquette dictates that he should've called her the night before or in the morning, whenever he decided to go to a stunt show instead of run away forever.<p>
anyway thanks again Superninja, I'm not trying to be argumentative, I'm glad you and your team had fun at the movie.

Make no mistake, “Ghost Rider” is a bad movie, but the comic book fans who are using the internet to complain about it need to shut up. As a former comic book fan myself, I can honestly say that it's not like anyone's childhood has been raped or pissed on here. Seriously, anyone who actually enjoyed reading comic books didn't like Ghost Rider anyway.
When writer-director Mark Stephen Johnson decided to make a film based on Ghost Rider, he had to have known what he was signing on for. Ghost Rider never had any definitive stories; he’s not a compelling character. The ‘superhero’, and I use that term lightly, was nothing more than an angry flaming skull dude with shoulder spikes, a swinging chain, and a badass motorcycle. The only people who dug him were those glue-huffing punks in my high school algebra classes. Those Beavis and Butthead types loved Ghost Rider because he represented their wet-dream: a fiery half-demon who belonged in the world of heavy metal album covers. And you know what, when Johnson created this film, I have the feeling maybe he created it just for them. Johnson’s Ghost Rider is a raging bad-ass, who has leathal death metal videos playing in his eye sockets 24-7, and his main bad guy is an Emo boy played by American Beauty’s Wes Bently. Sounds like every Slipnot fan I ever met.
If Ghost Rider had been a good film with clear character motivations and emotional gravity, it would have made for an inaccurate translation of the comic. None of that stuff was in the source material to begin with, so why would Johnson want to add it? Because he’s a filmmaker? Well, maybe, but then wouldn’t all the glue-huffing metal heads feel betrayed? After all, they stood by Ghost Rider when people who demanded silly things like 'good writing' and 'coherent panel sequencing' laughed at him behind their copies of "Watchmen" or "The Dark Knight Returns".
Johnston made a bad movie based on a bad comic book. No love loss here. What’s odd though is that the intro with star Nicolas Cage – before he turns into a butane-powered skull – seems like a screwball comedy a la "Anchorman" or "Taledega Nights". Busting out the same dialect he used to play Tiny Elvis on an episode of SNL, Cage’s alter-ego is a ridiculous stuntman who takes insane risks like jumping a motorcycle over six running black hawk helicopters. Also, instead of drinking beers, Cage’s character likes to binge on martini glasses filled with jelly beans. When he looks into the mirror, an evil-looking skull stares back at him, but neither Cage or his buddies hanging out with him seem to notice. As a matter of fact, the only things that seem to rile Cage’s friends are the facts that he writes in a diary, and reads ‘weird’ and ‘funny’ books like Christopher Marlowe’s “Faust”. Too bad that part of the movie was trapped in the body of an adaptation of a lousy comic book.
Perhaps if nothing else, “Ghost Rider” will serve as a reminder of how funny Cage used to be when he was in comedies like Raising Arizona. Perhaps he will make a move towards the genre once again before completely destroying his career with motr films like this. Comic book fans need to get their priorities straight; they have bigger fish to fry like films based on comic books that were actually enjoyable (i.e. 'Watchmen', 'FF2', etc.)

to be serious at any point. All it asked was for you to care about Johnny Blaze, and Cage actually created a character. I think it's safe to say Schumacher's Batman movies were attempting the same thing. The script, the actors, the direction all reflects it - it is self-effacing and knows what kind of movie it is. What term would you prefer we use instead of emo?

It doesn't have the courage of its convictions. The ads say "hey everybody, a skeleton on a motorcycle, come pay us money" and then the movie says "ha ha, isn't this stupid, a skeleton on a motorcycle. Stupid, huh?" If the jokes were funny it wouldn't matter but come on dude. He eats jellybeans? She drinks too much wine? I'm surprised they didn't have a wino seeing the skeleton and then throwing his bottle away. There are jokes throughout most of the movie and only 1 or 2 got any laughing at all in my showing. Admittedly I did laugh at the part where his dad died, so that's 3 laughs. If they had treated the whole thing seriously it would've been better drama for the comic strip fans and better laughs for me, in my opinion.<p>
As for "em*", I don't know, all I know is that sounds like a goofy comedian from the '80s who was known for talking in a funny voice. Maybe call them "Carrot" or "Yakov."

a serious take on the character has its own pitfalls as well. Namely, there is not much of a character there - the GR character is a spirit of venegance, similar to the Spectre, which is most effective if it is removed and not the main protagonist. That's why he gets saddled with the campy carny human side even in the comics. If you wanted to make a horror monster movie (which I would do if I made a serious GR movie), that would be one thing. But then the film has to be about judgement, justice, and eternal punishment, which no one seems to be a big fan of discussing in detail in cinema. But this is Marvel we are talking about here. What you get when you take a character seriously is a Daredevil or Blade. You don't get many Spider-Mans. I guess they could've made Dante's Inferno but have the guy's head on fire instead.

as well, but I felt like he really did create a very likeable character with Blaze. I accepted the Carpenters, jellybeans and monkey obsession because the film was consistent in portraying him as a very gentle, kind person who had become odd from alienating himself from everyone he loved and his best friend was his television. (The jellybeans are because his old man was a drunk.) I mean, his career consisted of him trying to commit suicide bigger and better with each attempt. He was afraid of living, not of dying.

I'm planted firmly in Team Blade. Ghost Rider was at no point "cool"... I like Nic Cage. But he was ridiculous in this film. I've never really read any of his comics... I always thought he looked cool though, and was hoping all the jokes in the trailers would play better in the film and the overall film would be much darker... that was not the case. The film never takes itself seriously, and it never once cares about any of its characters, so how is the audience supposed to care about them? I think Daredevil was written, directed and acted poorly, but I actually enjoy the directors cut quite a bit. It made me re-think that whole "MSJ is a hack" thing I had been convinced of... Not any more. This movie was shit. Where wesley snipes is effortless in his being cool and badass, i never once got that feeling from nic cage or his cgi counterpart. the characters were all terribly underwritten. Jellybeans, monkeys and television are all i know about who johnny blaze is as a person now. And those are dumb things to base a personality around. I agree with Vern that X-men 3 was a better movie (and that The Hulk is a good film) but I don't think it is in any way an example of "how to do it right". It had more substance... but the film didn't earn those moments. The previous two films did. The tragedies in X3 all felt forced to me. Brett Ratner is a hack. He is just a more servicable hack than MSJ.

Ghostrider and Punisher (A 2 star movie plus a one star movie obviously means three stars and big box office...yeah)? GR & Blade (once Snipes gets out of the federal pen for tax evasion)? DD & GR (Cage and Affleck dual to see who can do the worst acting job)? FF & Spiderman (sigh, remember the days when a Torch and Spidey team-up was ultra cool)?

You seem to have a lot of time on your hands. Maybe stop typing and go watch Superman Returns again and tell me what part of it is gay? The only reason ANYONE is saying that is because of some stupid article in The Advocate that came out before the film opened. If that had not been out there... no one would've brought something like that up.

Boys boys boys, great work all around on the comments and the reviews and the opinions and the arguments. But guess what?<p>YOU'RE ALL WRONG!<P>Why you ask? Oh so easy to answer, and here we go: <p>Ghost Rider gunned the Marvel / Sony marketing engine for No. 1 as the biggest Presidents Day Weekend opening ever by a big margin. It sped to a whopping $44.5 million for Fri-Sat-Sun and an expected $51 mil for the four-day holiday. Even though critics were lukewarm at best about the action film based on the popular Marvel comic book, it beat previous record holder 50 First Dates ($45.1 mil for the four-day holiday). Ghost Rider is the biggest film opening so far in 2007 -- and Nicolas Cage's biggest since 2003's National Treasure because he's been in a slump at the box office. Audience breakdown for the film is 62% male and 38% female with 55% under age 25 and 45% are age 25 and older.<p>See? Do you? Are you sure? I'm the posted who ALWAYS talks about the money involved behind the movies everyone trashes, but no one seems to get that. Harry must, possibly his boys like Vern and Mori considering Harry and the ilk are "in the biz" as they tell us, but for you fanboys out there, MONEY IS ALL THAT MATTERS.<P>Money is all that matters to movie studios, actors, producers, directors, toy and video game companies, special effects houses, EVERYBODY JUST CARES ABOUT THE MONEY!<p>And not Harry's opinion, or your's. And don't overestimate the importance of this site, or the AICN community and its collective malcontentious opinions. You guys all remind me of the new wave crowd during the 80s which trashed glam metal while listening to dusty Joy Division records and tapes. Funny thing is the glam metal bands became millionares while the singer for Joy Division had committed suicide many years earlier. Need I say more?

Thanks for clearing that up. Money is all that matters. Now we don't have to even see movies, all we have to do is go to the cinema, pay our money and go home and do something construtive because we've already seen the best thing the movie had to offer - the trailer. In fact, studios can stop making movies and make 19 million dollar trailers. They make trailers and if that convinces us to actually want to see a movie based on it, we'll just pay them our money. I mean the movie is not important, all that was important was the fact that it got us interested enough to pay.

I completely agree. in fact, I'm behind you 100%. trailers often are the best part. see, I'm not complaining about the money issue, I'm simply saying IT IS. And there's nothing anyone can do about it. Moreover, as long as we wallow in our complaining, we'll never become the money-hungry, shallow deviant producer/director/actor everyone on AICN secretly wants to be. Now, let's all major in theater at UCLA and be done with it!

Why is it that a lot of my posts as of late are only half appearing? And what's the deal with many of the headlines not appearing unless I scroll over them? I smell blood in the water. Oh, yeah..."Ghost Rider"....you were expecting maybe "The Third Man" or "Casablanca"? Geeze....lighten up, Francis!

Because the people who made Ghost Rider did not suck Harry's miniscule cock during the making of the film, he will give it a raping in his review. No, it was not the greatest comic-to-film movie ever, but it's better than others I've seen. Fuck this shit. This review is a fine example of ignorance.

Movie cost 55 million to make and nearly 60 million on commercials and ads. Go to the-numbers .com and look it up.
What I'd like to see in a comic movie is the hero already there doing his stuff. Explain how he she got there sometime later. I want to go to one of these flicks and just be into the story right away instead of watching some silly origin movie. Then again I could just arrive late.hmmmm! naw then I'd be paying double for half a flick. I don't understand why anyone who declared GR a piece of shit sight unseen, still went to see it? That's just stupid. You people don't have any self control?

I am sure that they weren't out to make a masterpiece with this film, not every film has to be a masterpiece, just have some fun and take a movie for what it is. (p.s. Bladerunner was horrible in the theaters and on DVD)

' "I think as long as stories are being told in a way that audiences embrace them, you can go for a long, long, long, long time," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution at Sony... ' This is why they will keep making this type of movie- you all keep asking for it. $45 million! I stayed home and saved my money. I watched THE DRESDEN FILES on the DVR and it had a story about a guy who sold his soul to the devil but had found true and was going to break the spell with the help of a wizard and a flaming skull using the powers of wind , water, earth & fire... and this was on TV and produced by Nick Cage? The TV version was OK. Mark Steven Johnson will be making GHOSTRIDER part 3 thanks to this weekend. He came make any comic book he wants right now. Well the BO has spoken and it really doesn't matter from this point on what anyone says about GR. It's a hit and you'll get two more just like it, a TV show on Sci-Fi, A cartoon on Saturday, a DTV version ( plus two DTV sequels and a spin-off ) Look what you have done lol. Anyway BLADE was a Badass but those Emo vamps in the first flick sucked more than just blood. And one last thought, an R-Rated $120 million dollar BARBARELLA would be a way better movie to be bashing right now IYAM : P

That's the team Deus Volt is on. What is your point? That no one should watch movies, they should just pile up their money and count it? Hey, did you see that new pile of money this week? I read that it was huge. Harry Knowles loved the shape of the money pile. They interviewed the accountant on Charlie Rose, he had some fascinating insights into the methods of counting the money. I brought my son to the pile and everybody clapped once it was fully stacked. I read in Money Comment that the money pile made a new record for both height and girth. It reminds me of the moneypiles we used to make when we were kids. Too bad somebody else gets the money and not me, it will never affect my life, entertain me or make me think. But at least I know I contributed to the pile. We did it!<p>
Come on buddy, I don't know you but I am going to assume you have some kind of a human soul and basic intelligence inside that husk. You have to know what you just said is complete bullshit, trying to be outrageous. Talk all you want about the cold, cynical facts of life, there is still no reason why your stance is even remotely legitimate. Harry is a movie fan, he didn't like this particular movie, he wrote about it on his sight where he writes about movies. We all understand why he has a passion for movies. So now it's your turn to explain why all that matters to you is how much money a movie made. Or why that even matters to you at all. Or why you would attempt to argue seriously that nobody else should care about the actual quality or content of any movie.<p>
Let's hear it. Why is TITANIC more important in your life than every other movie? Let's take the all time box office charts and go backwards from the top and you can explain why you love the movies in that order. Why NATIONAL TREASURE and GHOST RIDER touch you more than CHILDREN OF MEN and CITIZEN KANE. Why "The Macarena" is more important to you than whatever other songs came out that year. Why American Idol is better than The Wire.<p>
Either go all the way with this argument or come out with your hands up motherfucker, you're surrounded.

It required lots of fast forwarding, besides the CGI (barely 10 minutes all in all) there seems to be nothing else salvageable about this "Catwoman". Any respectable torrent site should regret having this.
(I erased it as soon as it finished)
Ok what the hell I will write a mini review
The worst moments of this movie:
-Ghost Rider says "yehaaa!" while pulling chopper with his chain
-The 3 Dark heart sidekicks
-The character portrayed in a "Batman a la Adam West style"
-Nicholas Cage...an actor of his caliber...lowered himself to accept this script, actors can request a rewrite, but in the case of Ghost Rider the rewrite was more of a replacement.
-Ghost Rider in its entirety, resembles Batman and Robin at most levels. All Mythos intentionally embedded into Ridicule
-Mark steven Johnson has surpassed Joel Schumaher's Batman and Robin.
The Best:
The fast forward button.
The mute button.
5-10 minutes of CGI when Ghost rider lands after falling from the building.
I strongly advise any fan to avoid this movie in its entirety for the sake of respect to so many years of hard work from artists pencillers and story writers at Marvel.

I may be wrong but "Deus Vult" resembles one of those "director" "producer" in disguise who post something positive despite an overwhelming majority, by taking the tangent of "$"...
Drugs sell very well too, does that make them "all that matters" MR Deus Vult?

Blade isn't cool. In fact he's quite irritatingly emo-gruff. And 2 of his super-villain enemies gave up at the end. Stephen Dorff at least tried to beat him and was righteously put down. The Bros guy was too busy being angsty and hating himself and Dracula was just a bit thick, (I don't see the honour in stabbing someone with a poisoned arrow myself) At least the Spiderman-cartoon Blade had a sense of humour (but no beard sadly) To be honet all this talk of bad superhero movies has made me want to watch Spawn again. John Leguizamo is king.

So this douche bag, with his douche bag cloths and his douche bag shades with his douche bag tattoos and his douche bag name that makes douche bag films in a douche bag city is charged with bringing preacher to HBO? --RUN!!!!

this point. Most of them are not special enough to have entire acts wasted on them when it can be explained in dialogue. Everyone knows superheros have an origin story, they don't need a ridiculous amount of detail spent on it.

It's everything else except for Blade. The characters and stories have no real stakes. Who cares about vampire clans? IT'S ALL SO EMO!!! Hey, Vern, when are you coming up with an alternative to "emo" so I don't offend your delicate sensibilities? ;)

I agree. All you have to see is Idiocracy. Our future is all in there, and it's a film called...."Ass"
DD: the director's cut is 1,000 times better, and I'm a DD fan.
you wanna talk about comic fuck-ups? talk Punisher.
as to GR, well, I agree with alot of the above posters: it's a C-comic with a C-list character. nuff said. Can't wait for GR 2: Back into Hell...starring Meatloaf!

For better or for worse, when the AICN base gets behind something, it either fails or struggles to just make it's money back. (Superman Returns, Serenity, Snakes on a Plane.) When it slags something, which coincides with no ads being run on the site, no set reports, and no indications that the studios care about one small site on the internet, it more often than not takes off, as seen with Ghost Rider, Fantastic 4, etc. etc. Something to think about.

deserves what they got. I haven't paid to see a bad movie in a few years because I check the consensus of revews on RottenTomatoes or Metacritic. Any movies that don't deserve my financial support get downloaded and watched for free. You guys who paid to see this are just ensuring that more movies of this quality will get made in the future..good job.

It wasn't all that bad except for three things...Eva Mendes and her two co-stars. Don't get me wrong, I like boobies as much as the next guy but good lord buy a shirt that fits and I won't even mention her horrible acting. Can they make a comic movie without the female influence. Can't a hero be a badass just for the sake of being a badass. They even ruined Darth Vader by him falling in love. All men in movies stopped being pussy whipped.

Ghost Rider had its flaws, and gaping plotholes but I enjoyed it quite a bit despite the fact.
Vern, My big problem with X3 is that while yes, it had substance, it just felt like potential wasted to become something that could have been better. I would have loved to see somerthing a little more epic than what was depicted in the movie. For me and I know for many others, the Dark Phoenix Saga is considered to be one of the largest jewels of the "Marvel Crown" if you will. To have that storyline tranished the way it was, was what ultimately diasppointed me more than anything.
Hulk for me was a disappointment due to the fact that it was quite a bit of techno babble and the action sequences were few and far between. When it finally did get going however, it was really well done. And Ang Lee's dividing of the screen into seperate panels like a comic book really gave the genre a fresh take and provided a formula that should at least be attempted again and soon.
As far as Brian Singer and Superman Returns goes, since when does the man's sexuality come into play with a superhero movie? He made the first X-Men movies what they are and did a great job at that. Sure. I was marginally disappointed by it but I still enjoyed the flick.
So far in recent years the only disappointment for me as far as Marvel films go, had been Elektra. That is the only one I have genuinely hated. I have yet to see it again and have no intention to.

When one of the few great moments is GR zooming off on his bike, but turning around to give the finger to the cops. Now that was spot-on. Too bad more of it wasn't like that. Did I enjoy the movie? Yes. Was it completely forgettable? Yes! Spider-Man it ain't, and I accept that.

The one thing I actually LIKED about Daredevil was the origin story. I felt emotion in that and I know that Johnson can accomplish it...so what happened here? Don't they watch dailies? I don't know who Cage was playing, but he sure didn't act like Johnny Blaze to me. It's like taking a vacuum cleaner and sucking all seriousness out of it. The action scenes reminded me of Tomb Raider...at no point did I feel that GR was in any trouble, just like I felt zero suspense in Tomb Raider. ACTION SCENES NEED SUSPENSE!!! It's not fun to watch someone in zero danger! I can't believe that one of my favorite characters is in one of the worst movies I have ever seen...Why?

sure there are classics like casablanca and Kane and Singing in the rain. Those films are exceptions to the rule. All films have flaws. As someone said regarding the dreadful irish football team. Everybod needs to relax. Ghost rider is just a film. thats all.

(SPOILER)
...came after this scene:
Johnny Blaze breaks out of jail as GhostRider and goes on a city-wide rampage. Cops aplenty chasing him all over the city, GR leaving burning debris in his wake. He drives up a FRIGGIN' SKYSCRAPER, takes on a helicopter, drives back down the friggin' skyscraper, destroys more crap, then faces a horde of cops in the middle of downtown with guns pointed at him. Then they all shoot at him for an extended period of time, he throws fireballs and takes off.
NEXT DAY: Eva Mendez visits Blaze's buddy who says, "If this ever makes the press, his career is ruined."
IF???
IFFFF?????
This WAS supposed to be shot in modern times, was it not? You know, where there is a camera on every corner? "IF this makes the press" he says.
I laughed until I shat in my pantaloons.
If only the director/writer of this slimy piece of worm-ridden celluloid had been there to clean up the mess.

Pros- the Ghost Rider. This is how Ghost Rider should look. The transformation, the chains, the chopper, everything. Perfect. Cons - That said, GR's dialogue sucked. WTF w/ the bad one-liners? GR sounded like 80s Arnold Schwarzenegger. Also, his action scenes were too short and poorly directed. I liked the Hidden, but they came across as GR's bitches. Not good.
Pros - Eva Mendez's sweater puppets. Cons - her acting.
Overall, the biggest con was the script's lack of originality. Many pieces felt lifted from better movies, then re-assembled here. Also, there were moments when they tried too hard to play it straight, only to veer off into unintentional camp. Intentional camp is OK, but unintentional camp is bad. Blaze's speech to Mephistopheles near the end, for example. Cage just didn't pull off the delivery, and it came off too campy.
In summary, GHOST RIDER was a mixed bag. I do intend to check out the Director's Cut when it is released on DVD. Hopefully MSJ will fix at least some of the problems between now and then. Overall I give it a 6.5 and slightly recommend it. It's not a great superhero movie, but it is better than FANTASTIC FOUR and better than the theatrical cut of DAREDEVIL.

I was disappointed beyond belief. I so wanted to love the film but I didn't even like it. The lines were so infantile I couldn't believe it. I hope there will be a director's cut and that it will at least redeem itself a little.

First I gotta say that I saw the movie and I liked it. And yes I have the whole original run of the Ghost Rider comic. It was a fun movie with eye candy..what I expected. What I didn't expect was Citizen Kane on a bike with flames shooting from his head. All I ask anyone is the see the film and decide for themselves.
However, let's look at the logic of the film. He was 17 when he made the deal. And unlike the comic he didn't have a pentagram on the floor with a twenty foot tall Mephisto standing in front of him. He's working on his bike trying to cope when odd guy shows, pulls out a scroll, a drop of blood, he's gone and he wakes up in a dream like haze to see his father all healthy. Then his father dies, he later is racing down the road upset and has another unreal, almost dreamlike meeting with Mephisto.
Time passes, chances taken, never hurt, his crew DOES seem a little concerned and suspicious.
I personally have known stunt riders, daredevils whatever you want to call them, and they are that quirky. After two dream like meetings when your 17 till your in your 30's you would not exactly live like your under a curse when the only thing that is supernatural is the ability to do your job flawlessly..oohh...torture...
Did the movie have a video game, bad guy, bad guy...boss battle..yes. Could I or they have wrote something batter...yes..but who gives a shit. It is what is, a fun film. Calm down and try not to make it sound like Ghost Rider is in a film with latex and nipples on the suit!

Oh dear jesus. That had all the atmosphere of a morgue. If that was supposed to be a comic book movie then why the hell did it look a tv movie. ie cheap. What was John Revolting doing in that. Revolting is that last actor you would ever cast to play a baddie. The whole thing looked a revenge thriller, which is what it is. but there was no attempt at style or anything. I thought that punisher was supposed to be grimy and have a dark feel and where the hell was the motor bike? He looked more like the hitcher than the punisher. If they are going to do another punisher and looks like they are not or are according to Tom Jane. Give it a bigger budget, I thought seen where he is being beaten up by the russian to the strains of Ladonnae Mobilae was cool. But was utter dreck all the same. This is one franchise i am in no hurry to see again.

If you are so fucking important that you can't go for a couple of hours without checking your fancy new fucking phone to see who didn't "call" you, just so the rest of us know that you have such a pretty little flashy fancy phone and that it lights up oh so cool, FUCK OFF and get the fuck out of the theatre so I can concentrate on the big screen and not your piddly shit private business. I've personally pulled assholes over on the way into the theatre and told them to stow that shit. A near brawl even broke out once when some yippy little bitch couple(guy and gal, could'nt tell ya who yipped louder) refused to put their phone down to even seat level, and they were right in front of us, even after being asked politely. Fuck talking on the phone, for the most part that's passed, it's the fucking act of HOLDING UP YOUR PHONE TO CHECK WHATEVER that pisses us off. No more!!! Surveys and petitions are being drawn up and presented to moviegoers and theatre operators regionally, and we hope to make progress against this latest civil transgression.The studios wonder where the crowds are going to, or at least the crowds that have some sense of civility when it comes to respecting the rights of others, as opposed to the cretins who probably flock to crap like "Epic Movie" and the like.
I heard a rumour about a possible " Jaws" remake, albeit without anyone of weight involved, even though that's not stopping studios these days from crapping out whatever shit product will bring 'em in on opening weekend. I would only hope that the proper rights to a classic film are being held in check and would not be released for what would almost surely be a an abominable effort at best. Though it would be kinda cool to see some updated hideous shark scarfin' effects...allright, I am a small part of the problem!!! PEACE!!!

Hmmmm! Not sure what I think of this film really. I know I didn't hate it but it was a little underwhelming. Firstly I thought the Ghost Rider was very realised and the origin story was nicely played out. But I guess all hero's are only as strong as their enemy and the enemies in this flick suck real hard. The reason I was so underwhelmed was due to the fact that the action scenes were so short lived and uninspiring. They were basically over in a minute and a half and the rider never seemed threatened or in danger. I think the film suffered by not having any amazing set pieces and this really had none of any note! Also I wasn't convinced by the cop story chasing Ghost Rider/Blaze. The evidence they obtained to question Blaze seemed extemely weak and any good Lawyer would have had him out in minutes. Then once he had escaped the Cop Shop in Ghost Rider form we never see or hear from the cops the next day! For instance no one is staking out his home! This seemed very silly! Like I say, I didn't hate it and Ghost Rider is a C level hero anyways but when considering the talent involved with such proclaimed love for the material e.g Stevens/Goyer/Cage I just expected more I guess! It's no Spiderman movie but it's a nice enjoyable watch that will leave you a little unfullfilled! But the effects are nice and The Rider is done very well! Check it out!
Brom
XXX

What a piece of vapor-producing poo. The director really out-did himself in making a movie that really grinds at your colon with the gentle touch of a buzzsaw. What the hell was Nick Cage thinking? A real heap of optical crap--stay away from this burning shit-log...